FDBusiness.com

Greene King, the UK brewer and pub group, has reported record revenue of £1.315 billion for the 52 weeks ended 3 May 2015. Operating profit before exceptional items was down 1.7% to £256.2 million and profit before tax and exceptional items was down 0.8% to £168.5 million, each being affected by lower like-for-like sales growth and the impact of the disposal of 275 pubs. On a retained business basis, stripping out the impact of disposals, total revenue was up 5.0% and operating profit rose by 3.8%.

Total revenue grew by 3.0%, driven by the Retail business, where sales grew by 5.9%. Revenue in the Pub Partners division was down 16.9%, due primarily to the impact of pub disposals.

Greene King’s Brewing & Brands business grew revenue by 3.9% to £192.7 million, while operating profit was 0.1% lower at £29.8 million, reflecting the sale of 275 leased and tenanted pubs at the beginning of the year. Excluding the impact of disposals, operating profit was up 4.4% to £29.3 million. Greene King remains the UK’s leading cask ale brewer.

Since the year end, Greene King has completed the purchase of Spirit Pub Company to create the UK’s leading managed pub company.

Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, comments: “Greene King has delivered another record year in a challenging trading environment. We have delivered good underlying growth across all parts of the business with Retail generating revenue of over £1 billion for the first time.”

He adds: “We have also completed a successful five-year strategic plan, surpassing our goals, as we delivered significant progress, changed the business mix and better positioned the company for the future. We now enter another exciting new phase in the company’s history, with the acquisition of Spirit.”