The brewer and operator of close to 50 pubs achieved the 3.9% increase “despite the almost total lack of assistance from summer weather”, in 2024.
Operating profit, before exceptional items, came in at £2.2m, with EBITDA, before exceptionals, of £4.5m.
”Our ongoing refurbishment programme has kept our pub estate in excellent shape, brewery volumes have held strong, and our tenanted estate has again performed ahead of expectations,” Adam Mayers, managing director of Hydes Brewery told MCA.
“Converting strong sales into profit remains challenging with rising energy costs, higher wage pressures and a volatile economic backdrop, but these results underline the resilience of our business and the commitment of our teams. We remain confident in the strength of our estate and the opportunities ahead.”
Out-performing expectations
New fixed term energy contracts – at higher rates – coupled with the impact of the National Minimum Wage increase, inflation and high interest rates, meant the business saw a decline in profit after tax – to £860,739, from £1.21m – “though we still out-performed our expectations”, non-executive chairman Richard Lancaster said in the accounts.
The actions taken by the business, and its performance over the past year, “has laid a strong foundation for the new financial year”, he said.
The majority of Hydes sales growth in the year was delivered through the performance of its managed estate, with overall sales in these pubs up 4% on the previous year, to £37.8m.
“On a like for like basis and excluding refurbished sites, sales were 6% above the prior year,” Lancaster said in the company’s recently published accounts.
“All pub categories performed well in the year, though our food sites were responsible for the largest proportion of the sales growth. Profit in the managed pub estate was £0.5m below the prior year, this entirely due to the increase in energy costs in the year.”
Significant increase
Hydes completed investments at the Victoria in Withington, the Nursery Inn in Stockport and the Hornsmill in Helsby. The rooms in the boutique hotel at the Abel Heywood in the Northern Quarter area of Manchester City Centre were also refurbished in the latter part of the year.
Within its tenanted division, sales and profit performance was ahead of the previous financial year, with turnover of £1.73m, compared to £1.6m in 2024.
Its brewery saw a significant increase in own-brewed volumes following the success of a contract brewing agreement with one of its wholesale suppliers, it said.
“Despite the exponential growth in the prior year, contract brewing volumes have seen a further small increase in the current year and we have only seen a small reduction in cask volumes, bucking the industry trend of more significant decline.” Lancaster added.
This story first appeared in The Morning Advertiser’s (The MA) sister publication MCA here.
