Wolves reports profit uplift as it awaits bid
The management of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries (W&DB) is pressing ahead with the sale of pubs and breweries despite an impending bid from Pubmaster.
The brewer is considering offers for its 39-strong Pitcher & Piano chain, which is being sold along with up to 130 managed and tenanted pubs.
Potential bidders are thought to include Barracuda Group, SFI Group and Regent Inns. The other 90 managed houses and 40 tenancies were said to have attracted "strong expressions of interest".
W&DB is also planning to close or sell Mansfield Brewery, which it bought two years ago, and sell Camerons brewery in Hartlepool to Castle Eden Brewery.
However, tenanted pub group Pubmaster was expected to come up with a takeover bid for the whole of W&DB. It has until Friday June 1 to submit its bid, expected to be worth up to £486m, which has been rejected by the brewer's board.
W&DB's management aimed to prove the business was safe in their hands today (May 23) by reporting a 36 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £30.7m for the half year to March 31. Turnover was up 2.6 per cent to £284.4m while like-for-like sales in its core pub estate were up 0.5 per cent.
Chairman David Miller said the company had not been "significantly" affected by foot-and-mouth disease.
"Easter trading was good," he added. "Recent warm weather has been beneficial."
After W&DB's own restructuring, it will be left with the Burton on Trent and Wolverhampton breweries, 500 managed houses and 1,050 tenancies.
Chief executive Ralph Findlay said it was particularly pleased with the success of its first 15 pubs converted to a community format called Bostin Local.
In the six months to March, the current estate of 794 managed houses grew turnover by 0.4 per cent to £161.2m, with like-for-like sales in the core retained business up by 0.5 per cent.
"This is a strong performance, given the significant reduction in discounting activity compared with last year," Mr Findlay said.
Its tenanted business, the Union Pub Company, boosted turnover by 6.2 per cent to £44.6m with its existing stock of 965 pubs. Like-for-like volumes were up two per cent.
"Performance in the East Midlands was weaker and affected by the integration of Mansfield and by uncertainty associated with the brewing review," Mr Findlay said. "Steps have been taken to improve trading in these pubs, and we are making progress."
Turnover for its beer division was up by 5.2 per cent to £78.6m over the six months, with Banks's increasing its market share by 0.5 per cent and Pedigree by 0.6 per cent.
Although W&DB reported improvements in its overall profits and margins, its share price fell through the day by 15p to 457.5p.
