21st Nov 2013 09:28
LONDON (Alliance News) - Young & Co.'s Brewery PLC said Thursday its pretax profit rose 9.9% in the half year to September 26, as its riverside pubs and beer gardens filled up during a warm summer in London and the south of England.
Sales also benefited from the first reduction in beer duty by the UK government since 1959, announced in the Coalition's March budget, the company said. It also noted signs of the UK economy starting to improve.
In response, Young & Co. lifted its interim dividend by 6.1% to 7.45 pence per share from 7.02p.
The London-based brewer and pub and hotel chain operator said profit before tax rose to GBP14.9 million in the recent 26 weeks from GBP13.6 million in the same period a year before.
Revenue climbed 8.0% to GBP108.2 million from GBP100.2 million.
Young & Co. said revenue from directly managed pubs and hotels rose by 9.0% to GBP102.3 million, with like-for-like sales up 6.0%. Managed house operating profit rose 17%, it said.
The company's managed operations consist of 128 Young's pubs, including 18 hotels, and 35 Geronimo pubs.
Revenue from tenanted houses fell 7.1% to GBP5.7 million from GBP6.2 million, as a result of the sale of nine pubs and the transfer of one during the period.
Young & Co. said the momentum from the summer has continued into the second half, with managed house revenue in the first seven weeks up 7.7% in total and 4.6% on a like-for-like basis.
The firm said its pension deficit has fallen by GBP2.3 million to GBP6.6 million as a result of lower inflation expectations. It said a change in accounting rules means it no longer can book finance income from its pension assets; therefore the previous year's profit has been restated lower by GBP0.9 million for the full year and GBP0.5 million for the half year.
"With an abundance of gardens and riverbank locations, the warm dry summer provided a perfect environment for us to make the most of our high quality estate and, in turn, drive our managed house like-for-like sales up by an industry leading 6.0%," Chief Executive Stephen Goodyear said in a statement.
"This performance is all the more satisfying given the strong prior year comparators created by last summer's unique London events," Goodyear added, referring to the London Olympics and Queen's Jubilee celebrations.
Young & Co. shares were trading early Thursday at 1,045.00 pence per share, up 3.5%.
By Tom Waite; [email protected]; @thomaslwaite
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