Young & Co.’s Brewery PLC, the premium pub and hotel operator, has this morning announced interim results for the 26 weeks ended 2 October 2017, in which it reports an industry-leading performance driven by its customer focussed approach.
Total revenue was up by 6% to £144.1m, a 4.6% LFL increase in sales in its managed houses, and a 6% increase in interim dividend, the 21st consecutive year of dividend growth.
Ram Pub Company (tenanted division) outperformed the market with like-for-like sales up 1.6%; total tenanted sales were impacted by a number of transfers to our managed house division.
The period saw investment of £14.3m into a number of significant redevelopments in the estate as well as the additions of the Bull (Bracknell) and the Chequers (Hanham Mills).
The acquisition of the iconic ‘SMITHS’ of Smithfield site, and its sister venue in Cannon Street, completed this week.
Young's saw strong trading in the first six weeks of the second half, with managed house revenue up 7.0% in total and 4.9% like-for-like.
Patrick Dardis, Chief Executive of Young’s, (pictured) commented, “We are very pleased with our excellent performance during the period, which once again underlines the strength and effectiveness of a consistent, premium strategy and customer-focussed approach.
“The pub is still the go-to place in Britain for drinking and eating out and, while much has been written about the challenges facing the pub industry, we believe that providing customers with well-invested pubs, a quality offer and outstanding customer service is key to our success.
“Despite the continuing unpredictability of our trading environment, we have made a strong start to the second half of the year. We are delighted to have acquired the iconic ‘SMITHS’ of Smithfield, which sits in the heart of the City, as well as its sister venue in Cannon Street, since the period end. Both sites are a fantastic fit with our portfolio of premium managed sites, with their focus on world class steaks, breakfasts, craft beer and quality drinks and we are very excited about the potential for us to build upon their existing offer going forward.”
Dardis concluded, “Our expectations for the full year remain unchanged and we are confident about our long-term prospects thanks to our premium offer, well-invested and prime located pubs, and the talented teams we have in place across our business.”
