The head of Irish drinks group C&C, maker of Magners cider, resigned today after his strategy to revive the cider market failed.

Maurice Pratt, chief executive of the group for the last seven years, stepped down today after another gloomy trading update from C&C, which used a high profile advertising campaign to turn cider into a fashionable drink.

For a while, the company enjoyed buoyant growth, but two successive wet summers and competition from bigger alcohol makers, like Scottish & Newcastle which produces Bulmers Original, has ultimately caught up with C&C. It also faces additional pressure from faltering British and Irish economies.

C&C said today that it suffered a 0.7% drop in first-half operating profit, and expects to suffer a "material drop" in operating profit for the second half.

"The past two years have been very challenging for C&C Group and despite our best efforts we have not achieved our ambitions for the business," Pratt said in a statement.

"As chief executive I have to be accountable and take responsibility for business performance. The company has to take important strategic choices and I have therefore decided it is time to stand aside and allow a new CEO to bring fresh thinking and impetus to the business."

C&C said cider sales fell by 12% in the six months to the end of August, but an 11% rise in the sales volume of its Irish whiskey brand Tullamore Dew and cost-cutting helped achieve broadly flat operating profit for the period.

"There is a market growth opportunity in Britain for Magners, but this is conditional on appropriate strategy and effective execution," John O'Reilly, analyst at Davy, said.

"We are very hopeful that its brand recognition can be exploited to restart growth."

Shares in the firm have fallen by 90% since they peaked early last year. They rose 8.9% this morning to 1.47 euros, broadly in line with the wider Irish market.

C&C's first-half revenue fell by 13.2% to 302.4m euros, it said, adding it would halve its interim dividend to 6 cents per share.

Back in 2006, when Britain enjoyed a heatwave, cider was advertised as a refreshing, cooling drink and quickly became popular. But severe floods last year followed by a bad summer this year has dampened the drink's appeal. C&C were forced to slash jobs last autumn, after a slump in profits. Attempts to set up in European cities like Munich and Barcelona also suffered serious setbacks.