Christmas spirit sustains growth for Staffordshire pubco

STAFFORDSHIRE pubco Spirit Pub Company benefited from the festive season as people flocked to their local to soak up the Christmas atmosphere.

In an interim management statement covering the first 20 weeks of the current financial year, the Burton-upon-Trent company said like like-for-like net sales across its managed estate rose 4.3%, with food sales up 4.2% and drink 3.9%.

The performance continued the trend seen during the company’s Q4 last year when it saw a 4.1% rise in like-for-like net sales for the final three months, with like-for-like food sales rising 4.7% and drinks by 2.8%.

“Our Managed pubs have continued their strong start to the year with robust growth in both drink and food sales as our guests continue to respond positively to our brands and the experience we deliver. We continue to perform ahead of the market,” said the firm in the statement.

“Christmas trading, aided by the timing of the holidays, was very encouraging with like-for-like net sales up 7%.

“Work continues to identify potential pubs to add to our estate and we expect to begin acquiring pubs in the second half of the current financial year.”

Its leased pubs also saw trade grow during the period, with like-for-like net turnover up 2.2%, with net income up 1.2%.

“We remain pleased with the progress in our Leased estate where like-for-like net income has stabilised, returning to growth in recent trading. Our focus remains on further improving the quality of our estate through investment in our properties and licensees, innovation and selective disposals,” it said.

Mike Tye, Spirit chief executive, said the group was pleased by the performance and the focus now was to ensure the growth continued.

“We intend to build on this encouraging start by continuing to enhance the experience for all our guests, further strengthening the appeal of our brands and pubs and beginning to expand our estate,” he said.

The group said its financial position had been improved following the successful debt re-profiling, which was completed in November. It said the “smoother amortisation profile” would enable the business to continue to invest and grow.