Warm weather helping Greene King

Brewer and pub owner Greene King has seen its annual profits fall by almost two-thirds, but said recent trading had been boosted by the hot weather.

The firm's pre-tax profit for the year to 3 May fell 62% to £54.3m, after it was forced to write-down £53.5m from the value of some of its outlets.

Annual revenues at the Suffolk-based company were up 1.3% to £942.3m.

Thanks to the good weather, it said sales of its own beers were up 12% over the past two months from a year before.

Overall food and drink sales at its Greene King pubs were also up over the past eight weeks, adding 5.2% on a like-for-like basis, which pulls out the impact of any new outlets.

Like-for-like sales in May and June at its Scotland-based Belhaven estate of pubs were ahead by 10.2%.

'Resilient'

Greene King's annual results were better than analyst expectations.

"Trading generally improved from December, although cost pressures remain, and both economic and political uncertainty are affecting consumer confidence"

When exceptional items are pulled out, its pre-tax profit totalled £139.4m, a decline of 15%.

"We have delivered a resilient set of results in the face of extremely challenging trading conditions," said Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand.

Last month the firm successfully raised £200m in a share issue to fund the purchase of additional pubs.

This announcement was quickly followed by the news that it had bought 11 pubs from debt-laden rival Punch Taverns for £30m.

Greene King now has more than 2,500 pubs and restaurants, including the Loch Fyne restaurant chain.

"Trading generally improved from December, although cost pressures remain, and both economic and political uncertainty are affecting consumer confidence," added Mr Anand.

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