RECORD CHRISTMAS SALES
Greene King announces its Interim Management Statement for the 36 weeks to 06 January 2013.
Retail like-for-like (LFL) sales up 3.7% and food LFL sales up 4.1%
Average EBITDA per pub in Pub Partners up 4.2%
Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen ahead of last year
Rooney Anand, chief executive, said: "Our strong momentum has been maintained over the last six weeks. We achieved record sales through Christmas and the New Year as our teams once again delivered excellent value, service and quality to our customers.
Pubs continue to play a vital role for customers, families and communities across the UK during the festive period, especially in this difficult financial environment. We once again achieved record Christmas bookings and strong like-for-like sales growth across Christmas and the New Year. We achieved record Christmas Day sales of £2.7m, up 6.8%, and during the whole of December, we sold 448,000 Christmas meals, another record for Greene King."
TRADING
Total sales in Greene King Retail, our largest and fastest growing business, were up 9.5% after 36 weeks, with LFL sales growth of 3.7%. LFL growth in the last six weeks was 2.8%, following 8.8% growth in the comparative period last year. We have further improved food's share of total sales, with year-to-date LFL sales growth of 4.1%. Room LFL sales have also performed well, up 4.6% after 36 weeks.
In addition to strong underlying growth, we have added 22 sites to our Retail estate so far in this financial year.
The Retail margin remains strong and, for the full year, we expect it to be ahead of last year.
Pub Partners' performance trends are improving following a strong festive period. After 36 weeks, average EBITDA per pub was up 4.2%. Our disposal programme is on track with 65 non-core sites sold in the financial year to date.
Core own-brewed volume in Brewing & Brands was -2.0% after 36 weeks, maintaining its outperformance against the UK ale market down 4.2%. Our two lead brands, Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen, are both ahead of last year on the back of our continued marketing investment and product innovation.
Overall, our profit, cashflow and balance sheet remain in line with our expectations.
OUTLOOK
We do not expect conditions for the UK consumer to improve in 2013.
While this presents ongoing challenges for all consumer-facing businesses, we are confident that our strategy, tailored to the prevailing conditions, and our consistent focus on providing excellent value, service and quality to our customers, will continue to deliver sustainable earnings and dividend growth to our shareholders.
