Continued market outperformance
· Pub Company like-for-like (LFL) sales up 1.5%, ahead of the market, driven by a good Christmas, a stronger fourth quarter and a strong performance from Greene King Locals.
· Record performance from Pub Partners; LFL net profit up 5.0%.
· Brewing & Brands revenue up 1.7%; own-brewed volume (OBV) down 2.8%, beating the UK cask ale market.
Strong financial metrics supporting growth and shareholder returns
· Record revenue, up 6.9% to £2,216.5m, and operating profit before exceptional and non-underlying items, up 4.9% to £411.5m.
· Strong free cash flow generation; £119.6m post core capex2 & dividends, covers scheduled debt repayments.
· 4.0x net debt to EBITDA; long-term debt financing.
· Return on capital employed (ROCE) maintained at 9.4%.
· Dividend per share up 3.6%; continued long-term dividend progression.
Spirit integration completed a year ahead of schedule
· £35m targeted annual synergies delivered.
· Pub Company IT system rolled out across over 1,700 pubs.
· Integrated supply chain in place.
· Organisational restructure completed.
· Year one brand conversions achieved sales uplifts of over 30%.
