5th Jun 2020 06:31
(Alliance News) - Young & Co's Brewery PLC on Thursday said it plans to reopen its pubs by August but could open beer gardens and larger sites as soon as next month, PA reported.
The London-based pub group said it "expects" to have opened its pubs by August 3, having shut all its 276 sites in March due to the government-mandated lockdown.
The government has said that pubs will open no earlier than June 4, although hospitality firms are calling for greater clarity on when current restrictions are set to unwind.
Chief Executive Patrick Dardis said it is "absolutely vital" that social distancing measures decrease from two metres to one metre when restrictions relax.
He said Young's pubs would only be able to serve up to 40% of their capacity with current distancing restrictions, but this would increase to about 70% if the government moved to one metre, in line with guidance in France and Germany.
Young's said it will put thorough cleaning and sanitisation measures in place and will initially take orders from customers' tables.
However, Dardis firmly rejected suggestions that pubs and customer habits will change permanently after the lockdown lifts.
"It's absolute nonsense," he told PA. "There is talk about a 'new normal' and new types of pubs, but I don't think customers want that.
"It's obvious that people are clamouring to get back to pubs, and I think that, with one metre distancing, we'll be able to safely serve that demand.
"At the minute, there have been people serving customers takeaway pints and they've been drinking outside, but that can cause its own problems.
"They can't use the pub toilets so they go wherever they can, they drink in the parks and then that can take up police time unnecessarily. We feel it makes more sense to be patient."
The pub reopening plans were revealed as Young's said its annual profit was hurt by one-off costs and a GBP13.0 million revenue hit from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the financial year ended March 30, revenue did edge 2.6% higher to GBP311.6 million from GBP303.7 million. Pretax profit fell 26% to GBP29.1 million from GBP39.5 million, however.
Finance costs rose 72% to GBP8.6 million and adjusting items more than doubled to GBP8.6 million from GBP3.9 million.
The adjusted items included a GBP7.0 million downward movement on property revaluations, Young's said.
The Wandsworth, London-based company's financial year didn't end soon enough to be spared some impact from the Covid-19 outbreak.
"The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on these results. Closure of our pubs for the final 10 days of the financial year and the preceding downturn in trade resulted in an estimated GBP13.0 million shortfall in revenue, with a disproportionate impact on profits, estimated to be GBP7.7 million due to the limited opportunity for mitigating actions," Young's said.
The pub firm has decided against paying a final dividend to save cash. This meant its full-year payout was cut by 49% to 10.57 pence from 20.78p.
CEO Dardis said: "We are grateful for the positive moves made by the chancellor, extending the Job Retention Scheme to October and the GBP14.5 million relief we will receive from the business rates holiday to ensure that great businesses like ours survive these particularly tough times.
"We are confident with the steps we have taken to safeguard our business from the immediate threat of coronavirus. The board expects the business to be in a position to return to profitable growth when this unprecedented period is at an end and conditions allow, and we remain confident in our proven strategy."
Back in March, Young's said it furloughed a majority of its workforce
Shares in the company closed 0.9% lower on Thursday in London at 1,140.00p. The stock is down 35% over the past 12 months.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Young & Co's Brewery