‘Pattern of poor weather' hits Young's pub company

A "pattern of poor weather" has had an "inevitable effect" on the performance of Young's pub company.

In a trading update for the 13 weeks to 2 July 2019 the company said like-for-like sales were 2.1% for the period compared to a 5.2% increase reported last year.

The group, which holds its AGM today, said it will benefit from acquisitions made last year, including the Redcomb pub group and two hotels; the Park in Teddington and the Bridge in Chertsey.

Chief executive Patrick Dardis reported: "These new investments, along with other investment made last year in our existing estate, will create momentum and provide a helpful tailwind for continued growth as we compete against last year's strong comparatives. We are, of course, also looking forward to the Rugby World Cup 2019 this autumn and the warm-up fixtures over the summer, two of which are at Twickenham. Despite the early morning kick-off times for the tournament, we expect it to be good for trade.

"We are very confident about the enduring quality of our business and will continue to invest in the existing estate, in technology and in our people. We remain positive about the year ahead and will update shareholders further at the half year."

‘Highly successful' year for Young's as revenue grows by 8.7% >>