Pre-tax profits rise 7.5% for Theakston

Turnover for the company rose 1% to £10m after experiencing a fall of 7% in 2010.

Operating profit fell marginally to £1.75m in the period, in which the company benefited from lower interest charges: £298,000 against £406,000 in 2010. On a like-for-like basis, operating profit was 5.5% higher than in 2010. Theakston said it was “satisfied” with the results.

The company paid £8.7m in excise duty last year, representing 48.3% of gross turnover. “In 2010 this proportion was 44.5% and the relative impact of this tax will continue to rise for as long as the beer duty escalator is in place.”

The firm criticised progressive beer duty, the present system of tax breaks for smaller brewers, for creating “unintended market distortions that offer an increasingly significant advantage to small-scale, microbrewers of cask ale”.

“This distortion continues to become even more pronounced as the beer tax escalator has the effect of increasing the level of beer excise duty above the prevailing level of inflation.”

Theakston said its brands were exported to “a number of international markets” in the year, and while the export volumes were “relatively small”, turnover from these sales is expected to rise in 2012.