Young's has reported its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 30 September 2019, showing total revenue up 7.3% to £168.2m.
The company saw like-for-like sales growth of 1.1% in our premium, well-invested managed pub estate reflecting the challenging prior comparatives from the hottest English summer on record and England’s FIFA World Cup performance
Young's invested £17.3m during the period, including the freehold acquisition of the White Bear (Tunbridge Wells).
The Redcomb pubs have been successfully integrated into the existing Young’s estate and, after a build-up period, are performing in line with expectations.
The groups has seen strong trading in the last thirteen weeks, with managed house revenue up 12.4% and up 5.1% on a like-for-like basis/
Chief Executive, Patrick Dardis (pictured), commented, “I am very pleased with the performance of our business during the first half of the year.
'In what was a challenging period up against tough comparatives, we continued to grow profits, make acquisitions, invest organically and increase the dividend: a reflection of the consistent execution of our strategy and the hard work of our teams throughout those six months.
'The start of the half year was challenging as the poor and unpredictable weather was a far cry from last year’s exceptional early summer sunshine. However, the summer Bank Holiday temperatures and late-September sunshine contributed to strong like-for-like sales growth in the second 13 weeks which helped to balance the first half, with like-for-like sales finishing up 1.1%.
'We have added the White Bear, a freehold pub in Tunbridge Wells, into our managed house estate and continue to seek out the right opportunities in exciting new locations where we believe our premium offer will flourish.'
Dardis concluded, 'Although the upcoming general election prolongs the unpredictability of the political environment, it does not change our approach or confidence in our winning strategy of running high-quality, well-invested premium pubs. Our expectations for the full year remain unchanged and we remain confident in our ability to deliver long-term growth and sustainable superior investor returns.”
