Greene King profits up as revenue passes £1b for the first time
Greene King has seen its pre-tax profit climb by 13.8% to £140m while revenue passed the £1b mark for the first time in 2010/11.
Like-for-like food sales were up 8.1% in the year to 1 May 2011, with overall like-for-like sales up 4.9%.
The company said it was boosted by the acquisition of 47 sites, including the £55.7m Cloverleaf purchase and a £52.2m deal for Real Pubs.
It said food now accounted for 60% of total sales, with over 36 million meals sold.
The company had 888 managed sites at the beginning of the financial year and ended it with 915. It said its strategy was to expand its retail estate to 1,100 sites, while reducing the tenanted and leased business to around 1,200 sites.
The number of tenanted pubs fell by 4%, although average earnings before interest taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 1.9% per pub.
In its brewing division profit was up 4.1%, led by growth in core brands.
Rooney Anand, Greene King chief executive, said: "This has been a very successful year for Greene King, delivering revenue of over £1b for the first time, record profits and a 7.4% dividend increase. Our retail business continues to spearhead our growth, as we increase our share of the eating out market. Our retail expansion strategy is on track with our most recent acquisitions, Cloverleaf and Realpubs, trading well."
But he warned that the company faced a "testing year". "The UK economy continues to face inflationary pressures, impacting on both our customers' spending power and our cost base, and the impact of the Government's cutbacks is still to take full effect," he said.
Greene King buys restaurant firm Cloverleaf for £56m >>
Greene King to focus on managed houses >>
By Neil Gerrard
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