The managed pub and restaurant company saw a return to growth in Q4 as external factors such as the weather normalised, with an increase of 1.4%.
Join our WhatsApp channel: The Morning Round-Up
Get the biggest pub trade stories straight to your phone. Listen to our one-minute daily news briefing and receive breaking news, exclusives and sector updates throughout the day....just remember to turn notifications on in top right corner!
This was supported by a strong August Bank Holiday weekend, where like-for-like sales grew by 5.3%.
It followed a disappointing Q3 where like-for-like sales were flat.
Sales increase
Drink has outpaced food growth for the last two quarters, with drink growing 2.7% in the year-to-date, versus food’s growth of 1.8%.
Total sales in the year to date have increased by 1.2%.
M&B said it has maintained the ‘accelerated pace’ of its investment programme, which continues to deliver attractive returns.
The company has completed 222 conversions and remodels in the year to date.
Additionally, it has acquired 11 new sites, two leasehold sites in Germany and nine freeholds in the UK, in addition to the purchase of four freehold interests in existing sites.
In June, M&B acquired a seven-strong package of sites from Whitbread, to converted to either Miller & Carter or Toby Carvery.
Confidence
The board is confident its full year performance will be in line with consensus expectations.
In FY27, M&B expects cost headwinds to moderate from £120m to approximately £95m, equivalent to around 4% of its cost base, which it said it was well positioned to mitigate and drive profit growth.
Phil Urban, chief executive, commented: “We are pleased to see like-for-like sales return to growth in the fourth quarter, with trading performance ahead of the market, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our diverse portfolio of brands and the appeal of our offering to guests.
“Looking ahead, we enter the new financial year with confidence. Normalised cost headwinds, combined with our ongoing efficiency initiatives and a proven capital investment programme, provide a strong platform for further growth in earnings and long-term shareholder value.”
- This article was originally published on the MA’s sister site, MCA, here.
