Financial performance
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Total revenue of £1,970m, up 4.0% |
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FY 2014 like-for-like sales growth of 0.6% |
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Like-for-like sales growth of 2.4% in the first eight weeks of FY 2015 |
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Operating profit before exceptionals of £313m, up 1.0% |
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Net pensions finance charge of £10m (FY 2013 £11m) reclassified into underlying profit before exceptionals with restatement |
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Earnings per share before exceptionals of 32.6p, up 1.2% |
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Net cash outflow of £(199)m |
Reported results
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Profit before tax: £123m (FY 2013 £142m) |
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Basic earnings per share: 22.6p (FY 2013 31.2p) |
Balance sheet and cash flow
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Capital expenditure increased to £162m (FY 2013: £128m), including 23 new site openings and 8 conversions |
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£258m cash invested in the acquisition of 173 largely freehold, well-located pubs from the Orchid Group in June |
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Net debt of £1.96bn representing 4.5 times annualised EBITDA |
Operational highlights
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Strengthening food volume performance: like-for-like food volume growth +0.9% (FY 2013 -4.3%) |
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Operating margin 15.9% |
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Staff turnover at historical low of 78% and net promoter score growing strongly to 63% (FY 2013 59%) |
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Remodel programme generating strong returns |
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Executive team strengthened |
Alistair Darby, Chief Executive, commented:
"In the last year we have made significant progress, investing in the business for future growth. We completed the acquisition of Orchid, accelerated remodel and expansionary capex and have made a substantial investment in our systems. At the same time we have maintained our focus on the delivery of our four key priorities. In the year ahead, we will continue these actions.
The business is gathering momentum and we have made an encouraging start to the year. We expect to benefit further from these investments during this financial year."
