The City Pub Group, the owner and operator of premium pubs across Southern England, has reported results for the year ended 31 December 2017, with like-for-like sales up by 3.8%.
Total turnover for the year was approximately £37.4m, an increase of approximately 34% on the prior year, with 33 pubs trading at the end of the financial year.
Trading over the Christmas period was strong with many of the recent openings trading ahead of management's expectations and a number of pubs achieving a record result.
Following a successful December trading period, the Group confirms that it has traded in line with market expectations for 2017 and remains optimistic about its prospects for 2018.
Acquisition activity
Following its admission to AIM on 23 November 2017, the Group now has the funding available to execute the strategy of doubling the size of its estate over the next 3 to 4 years. The Group is pleased to announce that it has exchanged on 2 freehold sites and completed on a third leasehold site for a combined cash consideration of £5.8m, which marks significant progress against its plan for 2018.
Refurbishment costs for these 3 sites are expected to be approximately £2.6m. They include:
Completion on a leasehold property in Parson's Green, which is due to reopen as a pub serving vegan fare at the end of March 2018.
Contracts exchanged on a freehold pub in Clapham, with completion due by the end of January 2018. The pub is expected to reopen after a minor refurbishment in March 2018.
Contracts exchanged on a freehold former bank building in Reading, with completion due by the end of January 2018. It will require extensive refurbishment and is expected to open towards the end of 2018.
In addition, the Group has acquired the long-leasehold interest (effective freehold) of its King Street Brew House in Bristol, further strengthening and underpinning the Group's balance sheet.
Following completion of these acquisitions, the Group will own 23 freehold and 15 leasehold pubs, of which 33 are currently trading.
The City Pub Group also announced today that David Bruce resigned from the Board with immediate effect so that he can focus on his other activities in the pub and brewing industry. David was a co-founder and inaugural Chairman of The City Pub Group. The firm has appointed Neil Griffiths as independent Non-Executive Director of the Group with immediate effect.
Griffiths worked at Punch Taverns plc from 2001 to 2017 in a number of senior roles including Chief Operating Officer. He previously held senior roles at Warner Village Cinemas and Bass plc. Mr Griffiths has extensive operational and property experience in the pub industry and will make a valuable contribution to the Group as it embarks on the next stage of its journey. Neil is also a trustee director of the Prince of Wales initiative 'Pub is the Hub' and is a qualified Chartered Surveyor.
Clive Watson, Executive Chairman of The City Pub Group, said, 'Trading was robust over the festive period and throughout 2017. Our new openings are performing well and we are excited about our recent high-quality acquisitions. We continue to seek and find a ready flow of acquisitions to build the Group and we are close to exchanging on further units.
'I would like to personally thank David for helping me establish The City Pub Company following the sale of the Capital Pub Company in mid-2011. He has been immensely supportive and we wish him well with his other ventures. I am delighted that Neil Griffiths has joined our Board - his knowledge and experience will be extremely valuable as we aim to double the size of the Group over the next 3 to 4 years'.