British brewer Greene King posts 58 per cent jump in revenue in first yearly results since completing Spirit Pubs acquisition
British pub company Greene King has posted a strong set of preliminary numbers for the 52 weeks to 1 May – but has warned that it expects consumer confidence will be hit by the UK's vote to leave the European Union.
The figures
Revenue was up 57.6 per cent to £2.1bn in the year to 1 May 2016, from £1.5bn last year.
Profit before tax jumped by 60.6 per cent to hit £189.8m in the 12-month period, compared with £118.2m reported a year earlier.
Earnings per share grew to 64.4p, up 57.5 per cent on the 40.9p reported last year.
And the dividend was also up, rising by 7.7 per cent to 32.05p per share from 29.75p per share.
Why it's interesting
These are the first figures reported by Greene King since it completed the £773.6m purchase of rival brewer Spirit Pubs, and the newly combined group looks to be faring well, with revenue growth recorded in all divisions.
The firm said it had hit £16.7m in cost synergies, beating its year one target of £12m, and said the integration was progressing ahead of schedule.
However, Rooney Anand, Greene King's chief executive, used the results as an opportunity to warn that consumer confidence was likely to be hit by Brexit – the shares have already fallen by 15 per cent post-referendum – although he stated that the company was "resilient". This was a view echoed by analysts at N+1 Singer, who pointed out that during the last recession the group's like-for-like sales "proved pretty resilient".
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What Greene King said
"It has been a transformational year for Greene King," Anand said.
"We completed the acquisition of Spirit Pub Company and reached the milestone of £2bn revenue. We have delivered growth across each of the three divisions, outperforming the market in a challenging environment, while making significant progress in combining the best of both businesses to build Britain's best pub company.
I am pleased to report a strong start to the new financial year, although it is likely that consumer confidence will be affected by Brexit in the near-term. However, Greene King has a strong track record of performing well in challenging conditions, we are a resilient business with a talented team and a strong balance sheet, and we will benefit from the opportunities created by the Spirit acquisition. We are well placed to continue delivering value to our shareholders.
In short
Greene King is toasting the success of its Spirit Pubs takeover – but fears Brexit could take the fizz out of this financial year.