Greene King PLC Trading Update (0495A)

TIDMGNK

RNS Number : 0495A

Greene King PLC

07 September 2018

LEI: 213800R9N5F2WRMGTR50

7th September 2018

Q1 AND AGM TRADING UPDATE

Trading statement for the 18 weeks to 2(nd) September 2018

At its AGM today, Greene King will make the following trading statement for the 18 weeks to 2(nd) September 2018.

The positive momentum in Pub Company continued through the summer with like-for-like (LFL) sales up 2.8% for the first 18 weeks of the year, ahead of the market(1) which was up 1.2%. Growth over the last 10 weeks was 3.2%. This strong performance was underpinned by the ongoing benefits from our sales driving investment to further improve our Value, Service and Quality, and boosted by the weather and a successful World Cup.

Our Greene King branded local pubs traded particularly well with LFL sales of +5.5%, driven by very strong LFL drink growth. 3.7m pints of beer were sold in total during England's seven World Cup matches and LFL sales on the day of the semi-final were up 61%.

LFL net profit in Pub Partners was -0.4% after 16 weeks, impacted by the timing of higher overhead costs which we expect to balance out over the year. Total beer volumes in Brewing & Brands were up 4.0% and own-brewed volumes were up 0.3%.

Our cost mitigation programme to help offset gross cost inflation of c.GBP45-50m is on track and we are making good progress with our refinancing programme, which will reduce the cost of debt and increase flexibility.

We remain on course to dispose of 100-110 pubs this year and expect to open around nine new pubs.

We continue to focus on profitably driving top line growth, developing a more streamlined and efficient organisation and further strengthening our capital structure to deliver long-term value creation for our shareholders.

   1.    Coffer Peach Business Tracker for the comparative 18 weeks 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

 
      Greene King      Rooney Anand, chief executive           Tel: [phone] 
       plc              officer 
                        Richard Smothers, chief financial 
                        officer 
      Finsbury         Alastair Hetherington                   Tel: [phone] 
                        Philip Walters 
 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

-- Greene King was founded in 1799 and is headquartered in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. It currently employs around 39,000 people across its main trading businesses; Pub Company, Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands.

-- At the end of the financial year, Greene King operated 2,855 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, of which 1,745 were retail pubs, restaurants and hotels, and 1,110 were tenanted, leased and franchised pubs. Its leading retail brands are Greene King Local Pubs, Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns and Hungry Horse.

-- Greene King also brews quality ale brands from its Bury St. Edmunds and Dunbar breweries. Its industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale and Belhaven Best.

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September 07, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)