Spirited first year performance from pubco

BURTON-based Spirit Pub Company says it is delighted with the progress it has made in its first year as an independent business.

Announcing its annual results for the 52 weeks to August 18, the firm – created following its demerger with Punch Taverns – reported profit before tax up 16% to £51m (2011: £44m) and like for like sales up 4.8%.

Chief executive officer Mike Tye said: “We have delivered further strong growth in managed sales through continued investment in our brands, estate, infrastructure and people while cost control has been robust in the face of inflationary pressures, enabling continued expansion of managed margin.

“Our leased pubs have performed in line with our expectations this year and we have now laid the foundations from which to drive performance improvement.”

The performance of the firm’s leased estate has been affected by rent rebasing issues.

“The consumer environment remains tough but our on-going focus on delivering retail excellence sees us well placed to make further progress in the year ahead,” added Tye.