Greene King, which operates 2,472 pubs and restaurants across England, Wales and Scotland, said in a Q1 pre-AGM statement today that LFL trading in it's 888 retail premises, which trade under the Hungry Horse, Old English Inns, Loch Fyne Restaurants and Eating Inn brands, was up after 18 weeks trading by 4.4% overall on last year.
Food sales are the driver for this increase, being up 8.6%, and margins have slightly improved as well, but it is a different story in the 1,584 are tenanted or leased pubs, where EBITDA is up just 0.7%, which is a creditable performance in a UK beer market which has dropped 8% in the last quarter. Volumes through it's breweries have suffered, down 4.6%, though Belhaven in Scotland bucks the trend with volume up 3%.
GK says the pubs acquired over the last year are trading very well, but the outlook is uncertain with a number of significant headwinds, including public sector cuts, benefits reform and the impending VAT rise, are likely to affect future household spending.
Greene King shares closed last night at 428.8p valuing the company at £927 million.
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