Strong beer, food and room sales help Shepherd Neame's profits rise nearly 40%
The group experienced a record turnover of £133m for the 53 weeks to 30 June 2012, a rise of 9.6 per cent.
Shepherd Neame chief executive Jonathan Neame said beer (up 6.2 per cent), food (up 10.9 per cent) and accommodation (up 7 per cent) across the company's estate had seen strong growth for the second year in a row and that the tenanted estate performance was 'encouraging'.
"Our strategy to invest in our pubs and brands during the economic downturn has strengthened the company, improved its competitive position and enhanced our reputation with consumers.
"Recent pub acquisitions have been successful and this has enabled us to take another step forward this year with some further excellent purchases, which provides a good platform for the future," he said.
Excellent performance
In a statement, Neame said the operator, which bought five new pubs and two hotels - The Camden Arms and the King's Head - during the year, had seen 'excellent individual performances' at several of its venues, including the Crown Hotel in Blackheath and the Spanish Galleon in Greenwich, which introduced a dedicated fish bar following the re-opening of its neighbouring Cutty Sark.
The Millers Arms in Canterbury, The Crown Inn in Chislehurst and Mabel’s Tavern in London were also singled out for having notable increases in trade as the average food spend per visit across the estate went up to £11.23 compared with £9.12 the previous year.
Neame said: "We continue to drive quality, value for money, presentation and choice of menu within our Managed Houses, something our customers recognised. I am particularly pleased that after several years of development we won The Best Food Offer at the Publican Awards 2012."
Looking forward
Neame said the positive results of the last year meant the business had a 'good platform' for the future.
"We aim to deliver long term growth in net asset value per share and cash backed dividend growth. The short term will always present economic uncertainties that are beyond our control and in the coming year we remain concerned about increased cost inflation that may present itself. Against this backdrop we are building a stronger beer and pub business to prosper over the long term. This has been a year of further good progress in that direction."
