26th Sep 2013 07:38
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mitchells & Butlers PLC Thursday said it expects full-year results to be in line with board expectations, after reporting sales growth of 2.1% in the first 51 weeks, and an operating margin in the second half of the year that is ahead of last year.
The UK operator of managed pubs and restaurants, including Harvester, Toby Carvery, All Bar One and O'Neill's, said that during the financial year it opened 16 new sites, and converted or expanded six sites. It said its pipeline of news sites for the next two financial years is progressing well, and it is looking to up investment in its most successful brands, by opening around 50 new sites a year, over the medium term.
The group said that total like-for-like sales, excluding new sites, in the 51 weeks to September 21 were up 0.4%. However, it said like-for-like sales were lower in its final quarter of the year, due to a strong comparative performance last year of 3.0%. In the 9 weeks period to September 21, like-for-like sales fell 1%.
It said that food and drink sales both fell in the 9 weeks period to September 21, by 0.1% and 2.0% respectively. However, in the 51 weeks to September 21 food sales were up 0.8%, although drink sales were still down 0.3%.
"Based on detailed consumer insight, we have focused our brands on delivering improved performance across a small number of priority areas. These include further improvements in team engagement, operational practices and guest service, which will deliver the next stage of growth," said Chief Executive Officer Alistair Darby in a statement.
Mitchells & Butlers shares were down 1.4% or 6.00 pence, trading at 422.70 pence per share Thursday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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