FDBusiness.com

Greene King, the UK brewing and pubs group, has reported a 1.8% drop in revenue to £2.177 billion and a 9.3% fall in operating profit before tax, exceptional and non-underlying items to £373.1 million for the 52 weeks to 29 April 2018. Group profit before tax rose by 6.8% to £197.5 million while group profit before tax, exceptional and non-underlying items was down 11.2% to £243.0 million.

Greene King currently employs around 39,000 people across its main trading businesses – Pub Company, Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands. At the end of the financial year, Greene King operated 2,855 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, of which 1,745 were retail pubs, restaurants and hotels, and 1,110 were tenanted, leased and franchised pubs. Its leading retail brands are Greene King Local Pubs, Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns and Hungry Horse. Greene King also brews quality ale brands from its Bury St Edmunds and Dunbar breweries. Its portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale and Belhaven Best

Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King.

Pub Company revenue declined by 2.7% to £1.78 billion due to the tough trading conditions and the 4.4% decrease in the average number of pubs trading. Pub Company EBITDA was down 10.0% to £362.9 million and operating profit margin was down 1.8%pts to 15.2%.

Pub Partners revenue was £193.9 million, down 2.5% on last year driven by the 4.7% decrease in average pubs trading. EBITDA was down 1.7% to £101.3 million.

Brewing & Brands achieved strong revenue growth, up 7.4% to £215.1 million driven by increased sales from free trade and exports. EBITDA was down 0.6% to £36.0 million and operating profit margin was down 1.2%pts to 14.3%, reflecting the change in product and channel mix.

Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, comments: “We made good progress improving the performance of the business during the second half of the year, despite a challenging trading environment. Our investment to improve the customer experience in our pubs and the focus on our strategic priorities are beginning to pay off. Positive momentum, both in terms of trading and customer satisfaction, is returning to our business.”

He continues: “While it is still early days, this positive momentum has continued into the new financial year, aided by good weather and popular sporting events. We remain focused on continuing to drive top line growth, developing a more efficient organisation and further strengthening our capital structure to deliver long-term value creation for our shareholders.”