Marstons Announce On Target Results

Despite the wettest ever July, pub and brewery group Marston's, which owns the Pitcher &Piano chain, said it remains on track to meet expectations for the current financial year.

Trading across all three of its divisions - managed pubs, tenanted and leased pubs, and brewing - is said to be improving.Pub operators throughout the UK have struggled through the recession during the past two years as weaker consumer confidence and low-price offers from the supermarkets have convinced many drinkers to stay at home.

Marston's said it remained on course to meet its target to add 60 large managed pub-restaurants within three years, with 15 expected to open by the end of the financial year.