MARSTON'S PLC YEAR-END TRADING UPDATE
Marston's PLC issues the following update on trading for the year ended 29 September 2012. The preliminary results will be announced on 29 November 2012.
Trading
Our performance for the year has been resilient against the challenging economic backdrop and the very wet weather during the summer months. Earnings before tax and exceptional items are in line with our expectations.
In managed pubs, like-for-like sales were 2.2% ahead of last year including like-for-like food sales growth of 2.4% and like-for-like wet sales growth of 2.1%. Operating margins were slightly ahead of the previous year.
We completed 25 new pub-restaurants with investment returns remaining strong and above target. The impact of our new-build programme over the past three years has been significant, substantially increasing our exposure to the informal dining market and contributing to continuous improvement in the quality of our pub estate. We aim to continue to develop our managed pub estate at a similar rate of growth for the foreseeable future, and have a clear development pipeline including 20-25 sites planned for completion in the 2013 financial year subject to planning.
In our leased, tenanted and franchised pubs, operating profits are estimated to be around 3% ahead of last year. This improvement is principally due to the growth of our franchised estate, which now constitutes around 500 pubs. Pubs operated under the traditional leased and tenanted model contributed profits in line with last year.
In brewing, our own-brewed beer volumes are 2% higher than last year with growth in both premium cask and bottled ales.
