LONDON (Alliance News) - Pub company Greene King PLC on Wednesday reported growth in profit and revenue in the first half of its financial year thanks to a robust performance in its estate which has offset increased cost pressures.
The FTSE 250 group reported a pretax profit of GBP92.5 million for the 24 weeks to October 16, up 9.0% on the GBP84.9 million posted for the comparable period a year prior.
Total revenue grew to GBP1.04 billion from GBP917.7 million, up 14%, driven by 16% growth in its Pub Company division and 14% growth for the Pub Partners unit, which more than offset a 0.6% decline in Brewing & Brands.
Pub Company like-for-like revenue grew 1.3% in the period, while net income from Pub Partners grew 4.2%. Greene King said it continued to benefit from synergies derived from its merger with Spirit Pub and said it will deliver annualised savings from the deal of GBP30.0 million by the end of its current financial year, a year earlier than originally planned.
Greene King declared an interim dividend of 8.80 pence per share, up 4.1% from 8.45p a year prior.
"We have delivered market out-performance and strong integration momentum against a backdrop of continued challenging market conditions. Our performance has been driven by growth in all divisions and the synergy benefits from the integration. These have helped to offset increased cost pressures, particularly from the National Living Wage, as well as additional investment in the customer offer to meet higher guest expectations of value, service and quality," said Chief Executive Rooney Anand.
Anand added it remains too early to fully assess the potential implications from the UK's decision to vote to leave the European Union, but said it is likely the consumer environment will become "more challenging". He said, however, Greene King remains confident in its ability to navigate through any issues thanks to the strength of its brand and its strong cash generation.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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