Award winning Cornish brewer and retail St Austell has reported its turnover has grown by 7.6% to £106.1m in the year to 28 December 2012. Profit before tax also grew 3.5% to £9.7m and operating profit before other items climbed 3% to £10.5m. The final dividend was increased from 54p in 2011 to 57p. Sales of St Austell’s own beers grew 7.5% with bottled beer volumes up 41.7%, which “must be regarded as particularly encouraging” against a market decline of 4.7% and 4.6%. Exports rose by 37% with sales now to 20 countries.
Within the year St Austell bought five sites from Enterprise Inns and completed major refurbishments of two of these sites- The Three Crowns in Chagford and The Globe in Topsham. It then sold five smaller sites as the company decided they were no longer appropriate to their portfolio.
Chairman William Michelmore reported that major events such as the Olympics, Euro 2012 and the Jubilee, when combined with the weather, “proved in many cases to have a negative impact on trade” and visitor numbers to the south west had declined. He said the first two months of the current financial year “have met our expectations”. He added: “With the combination of our recent purchase of the Real Beer Company and our sponsorship of Somerset and Gloucestershire County Cricket Clubs, I am confident that we can look forward to a positive year’s trading in the south west.”