Young's profits up 7.1%
Young's, the London-based pub operator and brewer, has reported a 7.1% rise in annual operating profit for the 53 weeks to 4 April.
Operating profit hit £21.746m, with a pre-tax profit up 7.2% to £20.819m. Revenue was up 11.8% to £142.597m.
The managed house division benefited from the 26 Geronimo sites which were added to the estate.
This saw revenue increase by 13.2% to £127.8 million. Same outlet like for like revenue was up 1.9%, and operating profit up 11.1% to £29.2m.
Its hotel side of the business saw revenue up 15.2% and revenue per available room up 14.2% to £44.11.
Young's invested £12.6m in the managed estate, with £3.6m in its two new managed pubs — the Dial Arch in Woolwich Arsenal and the Surprise in Chelsea.
However, the company admitted that the tenanted market is proving "tougher" but that the location of its sites in the south of England "provides some protection".
The 97-strong tenanted estate, saw like-for-like operating profits up 1.9% and sales up 1.2% to £5.4m. Revenue was £14.4m.
Wells & Young's, of which Young's has a 40% stake, contributed £2.6m to the London company's adjusted profit before tax.
The company expects to open three new sites in the coming year — the Cow in Stratford's Westfield centre, the Plough in Clapham Junction and the Wheatsheaf in Borough Market. And it has revealed that managed trade for the first seven weeks of the new financial year has been strong, benefitting from the good weather.
Growth potential
Chief executive Stephen Goodyear said: "Despite the ongoing backdrop of constrained consumer spending, the group has delivered a good set of results for the period whilst retaining our premium position and has seen strong momentum since the year end.
"Although consumer spending is likely to remain under pressure in the near term, we are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the current year as a whole.
"Overall, we believe that the quality and growth potential of our estate will help us to mitigate the effect of what remains a very fragile economic recovery."
• Big Interview: Stephen Goodyear — an overseer of change
