LONDON (Alliance News) - Pub operator Heavitree Brewery PLC Friday said it saw a small decline in profit for its most recently ended financial year but maintained its annual dividend.
For the year to end-October, the company reported a pretax profit of GBP1.2 million down from GBP1.6 million a year before. Revenue slipped slightly to GBP7.1 million from GBP7.2 million, but more importantly, in the previous year the company had seen a GBP466,000 gain from the sale of property plant and equipment which wasn't repeated.
Heavitree proposed a final dividend of 3.675 pence, taking its total dividend for the year to 7.35p, unchanged from the previous year.
Chairman Nicholas Tucker highlighted some "uncertainties" that overshadow the pub trade whilst economic recovery "slowly moves forward", including the potential for interest rate increases and the introduction of the UK national living wage, along with new guidance on alcohol consumption.
"With all these pressures very much in mind, we continue to attract great operators by offering a combination of stability with our new agreements - both tenancy and leasehold - an expanding choice of products, and strong support from the head office team to all our houses," Tucker said.
Shares in Heavitree Brewery were untraded Friday afternoon at 425.00 pence.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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Heavitree (HVT)