LONDON (Alliance News) - UK brewer and pub operator Greene King PLC said Tuesday it expects profit for its recently ended financial year to edge higher, as it reported solid sales during the period.
For the year ended that ended Monday, like-for-like sales from Greene King's Pub Co segment were up by 2.9% ahead of the broader UK pub market as measured by the Coffer Peach Business Tracker, reflecting good drink volume growth.
The Coffer Peach Business Tracker is a UK sales tracker for pubs and restaurants.
In the last 16 weeks of the year, Pub Co like-for-like sales were up by 2.4%.
Trading over Easter was strong, with like-for-like sales up 4.6% compared to the Easter period the year before, due to good weather and a strong performance from Chef & Brewer, which reported like-for-like sales growth of more than 15%.
In the Pub Partners division, like-for-like net income for the year was up 1.6%, however profit dipped by 1.4%. Brewing & Brands saw total beer volumes increase by 0.9%, but own brewed volumes dropped by 3.4%.
Greene King now expects profit before tax and exceptional items for the year to be in the range of GBP244 million and GBP247 million. In the year before, adjusted pretax profit was GBP243.0 million.
In addition, the group said it expects to limits its cost inflation to between GBP10 million and GBP20 million.
"We have traded strongly this year and have returned to market outperformance. As I hand over to my successor Nick Mackenzie, I believe that, with our strong pub and beer brands, talented and dedicated team and high-quality estate, Greene King is well positioned to make further progress and continue outperforming the market," said Chief Executive Rooney Anand.
Greene King will release its annual results on June 27.
Shares in Greene King were down 6.5% at 647.76 pence.
