Pub giant Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) has reported its annual financial resuts for the 53 weeks ended 30 September 2017, showing like-for-like sales rose by 1.8% and were up 2.3% in the recent seven weeks.
The company recorded adjusted operating profit of £314m, which was down by 3.1% on a 52-week basis.
M&B completed 252 return generating projects with the focus on premiumisation or amenity enhancement, and disposed of 79 sites not offering long term growth potential.
For the period, total revenue stood at £2,180m (FY 2016 £2,086m), operating profit at £208m (FY 2016 £231m), and profit before tax at £77m (FY 2016 £94m).
Phil Urban, Chief Executive, (pictured) commented, 'This year, we have continued to make progress on our three priority areas: building a more balanced business; instilling a more commercial culture; and driving an innovation agenda.
'This has resulted in a period of strong operational achievement for Mitchells & Butlers with a sustained return to like-for-like sales growth driving market outperformance.
'Cost headwinds across the industry have adversely affected margins but we continue to work hard to mitigate as much of these as possible through our focus on efficiency and profitable sales growth.
'Overall, we believe that the progress we have made this year positions the Company well to deliver long-term shareholder value.'