Greene King has seen the benefits of the warm weather as customers sought refuge from the heat in a cool glass of ale.
The Suffolk brewer said trading in the first 12 weeks of its current financial year has been ahead of expectations, with beer sales up by a strong six per cent.
Sales of Old Speckled Hen were up 17 per cent, reflecting generally strong off-trade sales during the heat wave as customers stocked fridges with bottled beers.
Sales of Abbot Ale and Greene King IPA were up four per cent and one per cent respectively.
Greene King's managed pubs saw like-for-like turnover increase 1.2 per cent, excluding the impact of last year's strong Jubilee week sales, with like-for-likes in invested pubs up by 5.1 per cent.
Like-for-likes in the leased Pub Partners estate grew by 3.9 per cent on an uninvested basis.
The brewer is continuing to invest in expanding its estate. It has agreed terms on ten pubs since the start of May, seven of which will be converted to the Hungry Horse brand, and two will become Old English Inns.
