Marston's to spend £45m building new food-led pubs

Midlands brewer Marston's is to splash the cash on building new pubs in the coming year.

The group confirmed it planned to increase capital expenditure spending from £56m last year to up to £90m in the current financial year, with £45m going towards building new food-led sites.

The brewer, which claimed to be the "market leader in new food-led pubs", said the money would come from the proceeds of its recent rights issue, which raised £165m. A total of £140m of the cash raised from shareholders would go towards 15 new sites completed in 2010.

In a pre-close trading statement Marston's said overall turnover for the year to October 3, 2009, dipped 1.4 per cent, with group operating margins down one per cent. Trading in the second half had been flat, the group said.

Like-for-like profits across the brewer's tenanted pub estate fell seven per cent. Marston's said the results of its trial of a variable rental agreement called 'Tracker' had proved "encouraging" and this would be extended next year.

Support for struggling tenants amounted to £3m during the year.

Marston's managed pub operation saw like-for-like sales edge 0.6 per cent lower in the year, although the second half saw a stronger performance compared with last year.

Like-for-like food sales in the nine weeks to October 3, 2009, were up 5.7 per cent, with average per head spend on food at £5.94.

On the brewing side, own-brewed volumes rose eight per cent in the year, although operating margins fell two per cent due to a shift in emphasis towards the off-trade.

The outlook for the UK economy remained uncertain, Marston's warned. "Whilst we remain cautious, immediate cost inflation pressures have eased, and we are well positioned to meet the upcoming challenges," it added.