Chef & Brewer boosts S&N

THE £704m acquisition last September of Chef & Brewer from Grand Metropolitan has boosted pre-tax profits at Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) to £222m in the year to May, up from £182.5m.

Operating profits in the first six months of ownership of Chef & Brewer were £32m from turnover of £230.6m. S&N's retail division, which includes Chef & Brewer, is now the largest source of operating profit within S&N.

Chairman Sir Alick Rankin said the potential of Chef & Brewer "matches our best expectations". He said that while the outlook for the beer market remained sensitive to competitive pressure, the retail and leisure sectors looked more encouraging.

Since buying the massive Chef & Brewer estate S&N has spent £12m on the portfolio. The company said sales growth had followed well-focused investment.

The leisure division also performed well with operating profit up from £77m to £83m. The UK Center Parc had a good year, with occupancy increasing to 92% and visitor spend up 7%. A new park opens at Longleat this month.

Pontin's, meanwhile, saw a 7% rise in the number of visitors. But while activity-based holidays proved successful, there was considerable discounting of its more traditional summer holidays