Greene King posted results for the 24 weeks to 15th November this morning which highlighted a ‘challenging’ period of trading.
Total group sales were down 1.2% for the period. The pub group has recently pointed to poor weather throughout the summer as reason for the slow trading.
Significant cost cutting helped offset the weaker sales and the company said it was on track to achieve £40m-50m of savings for the year.
Cash flow was strong and the company maintained their dividend at 8.8p for the period.
The group also gave an update on strategic progress and said Fayre & Square was to be ‘debranded’ by the end of year as part of their push to reduce their presence in value food and concentrate on more premium offerings.
Rooney Anand, chief executive officer, commented on the results:
“The first half was challenging for our managed pubs, but our actions to strengthen performance have produced an improvement since the period end. We have committed additional investment to enhance the customer experience, including being more competitive on price, having more team members available at key times and strengthening local marketing activity. Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands again outperformed the market, generating cash for the group and raising the profile of Greene King.
“We will continue to benefit from our ability to generate significant cost savings and to improve investment returns to over 25% from rebranded pubs. Greene King is a strong, competitive business with industry-leading brands, a strong and flexible balance sheet, a sustainable dividend and an excellent track record of outperforming in challenging conditions. We are adapting our strategy to ensure we continue to sustain our long-term competitiveness, strong cash generation and attractive returns to shareholders.”
