Greene King Regulatory News (GNK)

GREENE KING plc

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR TRADING UPDATE

Greene King announces its trading update for the 36 weeks to 11 January 2015.

· Retail like-for-like (LFL) sales up 2.0% over Christmas & the New Year and 0.6% year-to-date.

· Retail LFL sales in line with last year in the last six weeks despite tough comparatives.

· Pub Partners LFL net income up 2.8% & Brewing & Brands own-brewed volume (OBV) growth up 5.2%.

Rooney Anand, chief executive officer, said:

"Sales were encouraging in our retail business over the important two weeks covering Christmas and the New Year, despite a very tough comparative from last year and softer trading in Scotland, following the introduction of tougher drink-driving laws. Outside of those weeks, trading was more volatile, with the weeks before Christmas slightly down on the previous year and soft trading since the New Year.

This performance was delivered in a continued challenging environment, as highlighted by the most recent Greene King Leisure Tracker, which reported an 8% year-on-year fall in household leisure spending in November.

We are delighted that last week Greene King and Spirit Pub Company shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of the proposed transaction between our two companies. This will create the UK's leading managed pub company and deliver significant shareholder value through material synergy generation and anticipated earnings accretion. The exact timing of the completion of the deal remains uncertain but we are working closely with the Competition and Markets Authority and expect the deal to complete by the end of the first half of 2015."

TRADING

Total sales in Greene King Retail were up 5.9% after 36 weeks, with LFL sales growth of 0.6%. LFL sales in the last six weeks were in line with last year, against growth of 5.0% in the same period last year, and slower trading in Scotland due to a combination of the new drink-driving laws and poorer weather. Excluding Scotland, Retail LFL sales were up 0.6% in the last six weeks. Retail LFL sales in the two weeks over Christmas and the New Year were up 2.0% against growth of 6.4% in the same period last year.

We received a record 780,000 Christmas bookings, up 7.0%, with LFL growth of 3.5%. As a consequence, we achieved record Retail sales of £3.4m on Christmas Day, including a record single site trading day of £15.5k at our Farmhouse Inn in Castleford. We also saw sales of Prosecco grow 78% over the two key weeks of the period, indicating that value remains a key consideration for customers.

Our best performing brands over the last six weeks were Metropolitan, reflecting the ongoing strength of the London market, and our more food-led brands including Farmhouse Inns.

After 36 weeks, LFL net income at Pub Partners was up 2.8%. All the key licensee health measures remain strong and anecdotal evidence from licensees has been positive regarding festive trading, particularly around food sales.

Brewing & Brands own-brewed volume was up 5.2% after 36 weeks with growth of 3.7% over the last six weeks. Growth continues to be driven by our take home and export channels, and by Old Speckled Hen, the UK's leading premium ale brand.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

· Greene King was founded in 1799 and is headquartered in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. It currently employs 23,000 people across its main trading businesses; Retail, Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands.

· It operates c.1,900 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, of which over 1,000 are retail pubs, restaurants and hotels, and c. 850 are tenanted, leased and franchised pubs. Its leading retail brands are Hungry Horse, Old English Inns, Eating Inn and Loch Fyne Seafood & Grill. 93% of the estate is either freehold or long leasehold.

· Greene King also brews quality ale brands from its Bury St. Edmunds and Dunbar breweries, and is the UK's leading cask ale brewer and premium ale brewer. Its industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale and Belhaven Best.