Interim Management Statement

GREENE KING plc

STRONG TRADING DRIVES RECORD CHRISTMAS SALES

Greene King announces its Interim Management Statement for the 36 weeks to 05 January 2014.

· Retail like-for-like (LFL) sales up 5.0% in the last six weeks and 3.8% year-to-date

· Average EBITDA per pub in Pub Partners up 5.6%

· Strong growth in Brewing & Brands; core own-brewed volume up 5.8%

Rooney Anand, chief executive officer, said:

"Trading over the important Christmas and New Year period has been very strong with all of our businesses performing well, driven by the strength of our seasonal offers and our continued focus on delivering industry-leading value, service and quality to our customers.

Our teams have excelled this festive period, particularly in terms of delivering great customer experiences, and this has helped us deliver record-breaking achievements. Retail LFL sales over the two most important trading weeks of the year were up over 6% and we sold a record 62,000 meals on Christmas Day. This drove record retail sales on Christmas Day of £3.1m, up over 12% on the previous year. New Year's Eve was also very strong with retail sales up 10% to £4.5m."

TRADING

Total sales in Greene King Retail, our largest and fastest growing business, were up 8.2% after 36 weeks, with LFL sales growth of 3.8%. LFL sales growth in the last six weeks was 5.0% and LFL sales growth in the two weeks over Christmas and the New Year was 6.3%. Over the last six weeks, food took further share of our sales mix with LFL sales growth of 5.8% with room LFL sales up 12.5% and drink LFL sales up 3.9%.

In addition to the continued strong underlying growth in Retail, we added a net 28 new sites to our retail estate in the year-to-date.

The retail margin remains strong and we expect the full year to be in line to slightly ahead of last year.

Pub Partners continued to trade well with average EBITDA per pub up 5.6% after 36 weeks. Our disposal programme is on track with 81 non-core sites sold in the year-to-date.

Core own-brewed volume in Brewing & Brands was up 5.8% after 36 weeks, with growth of almost 20% in the last six weeks, driven by a strong Take Home performance. Old Speckled Hen, the UK's leading premium ale brand, was up over 15% in the year-to-date.

OUTLOOK

Overall, our expectations for profit, cashflow and our balance sheet are unchanged and we remain confident that we will continue to provide growth in earnings and dividends, and improving returns, to our shareholders.

For further information:

NOTES FOR EDITORS

· Greene King was founded in 1799 and is headquartered in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. It currently employs over 22,000 people across its main trading businesses; Retail, Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands.

· It operates c.2,200 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, of which c.1,000 are retail pubs, restaurants and hotels, and c.1,200 are tenanted, leased and franchised pubs. Its leading retail brands are Hungry Horse, Old English Inns, Eating Inn and Loch Fyne Seafood & Grill. 95% of the estate is either freehold or long leasehold.

· Greene King also brews quality ale brands from its Bury St. Edmunds and Dunbar breweries, and is the UK's leading cask ale brewer and premium ale brewer. Its industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale and Belhaven Best.