Belhaven owner Greene King cheers rising sales

Belhaven Brewery owner Greene King has continued its run of rising sales thanks to last year's hot summer and major sporting events.
Favourable weather and the football World Cup boosted pub sales at Greene King: Picture: Greene KingFavourable weather and the football World Cup boosted pub sales at Greene King: Picture: Greene King
Favourable weather and the football World Cup boosted pub sales at Greene King: Picture: Greene King

The pubs and brewery business, which also owns the Hungry Horse and Chef & Brewer brands, grew revenues by 1.8 per cent to £2.2 billion in the 52 weeks to 28 April.

It pointed to favourable weather and the football World Cup for boosting sales as its pub division continuing to perform strongly, posting a 2.9 per cent like-for-like uplift in revenues.

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However, statutory profit before tax fell by 12.5 per cent to £172.8 million after the group was forced to make a series of one-off payments and the value of its property portfolio fell.

The board has recommended a final dividend of 24.4p per share, taking the total dividend for the year to 33.2p, in line with last year.

Greene King cautioned that this year is set to be more challenging than last as trading for the pubs industry will continue to be tough.

Its strategy now involves appealing to more "well-being" conscious millennials, including offering up healthier food options and placing a greater importance on sustainability.

The results mark the first for new chief executive Nick Mackenzie, formerly of Merlin Entertainments, who replaced long-standing boss Rooney Anand two months ago.

Mackenzie said: “The business delivered good results last year, regaining trading momentum in Pub Company and returning to market outperformance while fulfilling a strong cost mitigation programme and making further progress refinancing the Spirit debenture.

"The existing strategy we have in place has led the business through challenging times. I am looking forward to building on Greene King’s strong foundations with a focus on innovation, on developing our people and on customer service to further enhance our brands and deliver sustainable growth for our shareholders."

Ed Monk, associate director from Fidelity Personal Investing’s share dealing service, said: “Greene King shareholders can toast another dividend from the brewer and pub company following solid results today.

“CEO Nick Mackenzie is only two months into the job and the market is watch closely for any signs of a change in strategy, including the dividend which has begun to look expensive."

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