Greene King announces like-for-like sales increase
Greene King announced a boost to sales of 2.9% year-on-year in its pre-close trading update for 2019, however margins tightened for the last 16 weeks of the period.
Like-for-like sales for the 16 weeks to 28 April 2019 were up by just 2.4%, despite covering the time in which a major snowstorm, dubbed the ‘Beast from the East', caused problems for the hospitality industry across the board in 2018.
However, the firm did experience a 4.6% boost to sales across the group over the 2019 Easter weekend, supported by good weather and strong trading from Chef and Brewer pubs - which recorded like-for-like increases of 15.3% compared to the previous years.
Despite outperforming the market, according to the Coffer Peach Business Tracker, stocks in the firm have slumped by more than 6%.
Overall the firm is predicting like-for-like sales growth to stand at 2.9% for the 52 weeks up to 28 April when it reports its full-year results. It also predicts adjusted pre-tax profit to sit between £244m and £247m.
The report will mark the last for the firm's CEO Rooney Anand, who is due to step down from the role. He said: "We have traded strongly this year and have returned to market outperformance.
"As I hand over to my successor Nick Mackenzie, I believe that, with our strong pub and beer brands, talented and dedicated team and high-quality estate, Greene King is well positioned to make further progress and continue outperforming the market."
