Food drives Greene King's like-for-like sales boost
Greene King saw like-for-like sales in its managed pubs division rise 4.5% in the past 13 weeks, driven once again by strong food sales which rose 6.7% over the same period.
In a trading update this morning, ahead of its preliminary results for the 52 weeks to 29 April, the pub company and brewer said that like-for-like trading after 50 weeks was up 4.6%, with food like-for-like sales up 6.3%.
Meanwhile, average earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) per pub in its leased and tenanted Pub Partners division was up 3.8% after 48 weeks.
Rooney Anand, chief executive, said: "Following a record Christmas, we achieved very strong LFL sales growth on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and St. Patrick's Day. On Mother's Day, we sold 220,000 meals, up 16% on the previous year, with wine sales up 18%. Easter sales this year, despite more mixed weather, were in line with Easter last year.
"Our success at big events and our performance in London, where LFL sales are up 6.7%, bode well for the upcoming summer as we are well placed to benefit from the Diamond Jubilee, Euro 2012 and the Olympics."
Greene King's growth in food sales across its managed division was helped by the launch, ahead of Easter, of its new spring menus across a number of retail brands and formats.
The company also indicated that its expansion strategy was on track with 37 new sites acquired or developed in the year so far, while Hungry Horse, its leading retail brand, has grown to 180 sites across the UK.
Meanwhile, Greene King's core brand own-brewed volumes were up 0.8% after 50 weeks, in a market down 4.5% overall.
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By Neil Gerrard
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