Young’s has reported its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 29 September 2014, showing strong trading – revenue up 7.8% in total, 6.9% like-for-like – which has continued into the autumn.
Stephen Goodyear, Chief Executive of Young’s, commented:
“We are delighted to report another period of very strong trading, with further impressive sales growth from our managed estate and a return to growth in our tenanted division. Our many pubs in riverside locations and with attractive beer gardens have clearly benefited from the long, warm summer. Fundamentally however, our continued like-for-like growth comes from having high quality, well-invested pubs and hotels in a range of great locations, with a premium food and drink offering delivered by talented and motivated teams across both Young’s and Geronimo.
“We acquired two pubs and two development sites during the half, and a further four pubs since the period end. With our strong balance sheet, we continue to pursue opportunities to acquire both pubs and hotels that fit our premium profile.
“After the extended summer, trading has continued very positively into the autumn, and further impetus in the current year will come from the newly acquired pubs as well as from the re-opening of some of those currently undergoing redevelopment. We are confident that the strength of our existing estate, coupled with our appetite to grow further through acquisition, will continue to serve us well for the remainder of the year and beyond.”
Highlights
- Very strong performance for the half year driven by:
- strong total and like-for-like performance in the managed estate;
- continued growth of the successful hotels; and
- a return to growth in the tenanted division;
- Revenue up 7.8% in total, and up 6.9% on a like-for-like basis;
- Managed house revenue up 7.5% to £110.0 million, with same outlet like-for-like sales up 7.0%, and managed house operating profit up 7.9%;
- Continued positive momentum in hotels, with a further 63 rooms added, accommodation revenue up 19.7% and RevPAR up 9.3% from £55.22 to £60.37;
- The tenanted estate, recently re-launched as the Ram Pub Company, returned to growth with total revenue up by 12.3% and by 4.6% on a like-for-like basis;
- Further expansion of the managed estate through selective acquisitions: two new managed houses and two sites in partnership with Berkeley Homes acquired during the first half, and four further managed houses added since period end;
- Net debt increased to £116.6 million owing to investment in both the existing estate and new acquisitions, but continued to fall as a multiple of the last twelve months’ EBITDA (2.36 times);
- 6.0% increase in the interim dividend to 7.90 pence, the 18th consecutive interim dividend increase; and
- Encouraging trading since the period end, with managed house revenue in the first seven weeks up 10.3% in total, up 8.8% on a like-for-like basis, and further impetus to come from newly acquired sites.