Marston’s has reported higher profits and improved margins for the first half of its financial year as the pub operator accelerated investment into new venue formats across its estate.<\/p>\n
The hospitality group, which operates more than 1,300 pubs across the UK, posted revenue of \u00a3422.7m for the 26 weeks ending 28 March 2026, slightly down from \u00a3427.4m the previous year following temporary closures linked to refurbishment works.<\/p>\n
Profit before tax rose 7.9% year-on-year to \u00a320.5m from \u00a319m previously, while underlying EBITDA remained flat at \u00a385.9m. The group also improved its EBITDA margin from 20.1% to 20.3%.<\/p>\n
During the period, the company completed 60 pub refurbishments, exceeding its original annual target. Marston\u2019s said the upgraded formats are delivering average returns on invested capital of 35%, alongside like-for-like sales growth of around 20%.<\/p>\n
Capital expenditure increased to \u00a339m as the group accelerated its investment programme, while net debt reduced by 2.7% to \u00a3857.7m.<\/p>\n
Justin Platt, CEO of Marston’s PLC said: \u201cWe have made excellent strategic progress in the first half, delivering a strong profit performance underpinned by further margin expansion. Our disciplined operating model continues to drive efficiencies across the business, while enabling our hardworking local pub teams to focus on delivering great experiences for our guests every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur pub investment strategy is performing particularly well, with 60 new pub formats launched during the year, significantly ahead of our original target. These new format pubs are proving incredibly popular with guests while delivering very attractive commercial returns.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking forward, we are very well positioned for the World Cup summer ahead and expect our pubs, especially our new Grandstand formats, to be in high demand. Against this backdrop, we are encouraged by the outlook for H2 and remain on track to deliver full-year market expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group said it remains confident in meeting full-year expectations, with summer trading and major sporting events expected to support performance in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Profits climbed at the pub giant despite lower revenues as a major refurbishment programme continued across its estate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266702,"featured_media":2057752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120781],"coauthors":[127717],"class_list":["post-2111671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-markets","tag-black-country","tag-featured-story"],"yoast_head":"\n