FDBusiness.com

Helped by the good summer weather but hindered by continued consumer caution, Greene King, the British regional brewer and pub operator, has increased revenue by 5.2% to £595.4 million and operating profit before exceptional items by 3.7% to £127.2 million for the 24 weeks to 13 October 2014. Profit before tax and exceptional items rose 5.7% to £85.6 million, while adjusted earnings per share were 30.4p, up 6.3%.

Founded in 1799 and headquartered in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Greene King currently employs over 22,000 people across its main trading businesses – Retail, Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands. It operates 2,226 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, of which 1,008 are retail pubs, restaurants and hotels, and 1,218 are tenanted, leased and franchised pubs. Its leading retail brands are Hungry Horse, Old English Inns, Eating Inn and Loch Fyne Seafood & Grill. 95% of the estate is either freehold or long leasehold.

Greene King also brews ale brands from its Bury St Edmunds and Dunbar breweries, and is the UK’s leading cask ale brewer and premium ale brewer. Its industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale and Belhaven Best.

All three of the group’s businesses achieving good progress against their financial and strategic targets during the first half. Greene King’s largest and fastest growing business is Greene King Retail.

Revenue at the Brewing & Brands business rose by 3.1% to £87.5 million during the first half but EBITDA fell 1.8% to £16.3 million, while operating profit was 1.4% lower at £13.9 million. As expected, the higher levels of input cost inflation experienced in the previous period have, in the main, abated. However, residual cost inflation, combined with the ongoing impact of channel mix, drove the operating profit decline.

Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King.

Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, comments: “This is a very pleasing set of figures and we have made great progress in the first half of this financial year. Growth has once again been led by our retail business, which grew profits by 8% over last year, helped by a combination of organic growth and further strategic acquisitions. The tenanted and brewing businesses also performed well, helping the overall business to deliver healthy earnings, dividend growth and further improvement in our return on capital employed.”

He continues: “While trading through the first half of the year and since the period-end has been strong, and the economic outlook looks to be improving, customers remain careful with their money, particularly outside London and the South East. We believe that our strategy, tailored for these conditions, will continue to deliver growth and further value to our shareholders across the rest of this year and beyond.”