Greene King has announced their preliminary results for the 52 weeks to 29 April 2018.
Headlines include:
Successful customer investment and cost mitigation programmes
- Pub Company like-for-like (LFL) sales -1.2% excluding the impact of snow, up 20 bps since the half year; improved customer service scores
- Driven by investment in value, service and quality (VSQ) and good Christmas / Easter trading
- £44m cost savings delivered through mitigation programme and Spirit synergies
- Brand optimisation programme delivered 25% ROI; Fayre & Square fully debranded
- Pub Partners LFL net profit +0.4%; Brewing & Brands revenue +7.4%
Resilient financial metrics
- Strong cash generation; £89.9m post core capex & dividends, more than covers debt amortisation
- Net debt to EBITDA1,2 4.2x
- Well invested and located pub estate; 82% freehold or long leasehold
- Dividend per share3 of 33.2p; long-term track record of attractive, sustainable dividend
Strategic priorities to continue driving momentum
- Improve underlying sales growth in Pub Company
- Develop a more efficient and effective organisation
- Further strengthen the capital structure
Current trading and outlook
- Pub Company LFL sales +2.2% over the last eight weeks, aided by good weather and sporting fixtures; Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands trading in line with expectations
- Strong World Cup trading; 59% of consumers expect to watch an England game at the pub
- Expect £45-50m cost inflation; £30-35m cost savings and targeting Pub Company LFL growth
Rooney Anand, chief executive officer
“We made good progress improving the performance of the business during the second half of the year, despite a challenging trading environment. Our investment to improve the customer experience in our pubs and the focus on our strategic priorities are beginning to pay off. Positive momentum, both in terms of trading and customer satisfaction, is returning to our business.
“While it is still early days, this positive momentum has continued into the new financial year, aided by good weather and popular sporting events. We remain focused on continuing to drive top line growth, developing a more efficient organisation and further strengthening our capital structure to deliver long-term value creation for our shareholders.
“We expect the trading environment to remain challenging for some time, but we strongly believe people will continue to choose the great British pub as the place to enjoy time with friends and family.”
References:
1. Adjusted measures exclude the impact of exceptional and non-underlying items as detailed in note 3 of this statement
2. The directors use a number of Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) that are considered critical to aid the understanding of the group’s performance. APMs are explained on page 32 of this announcement.
3. Dividend per share paid and proposed in respect of the period.