Cold weather pushes down Marston's first half profits

Marston's looks set to report lower operating profits for the first half of this year as a result of snow and cold weather in early 2013.

The pub company, which has 2,130 sites across the country, said despite a difficult three months to the end of March this year, its expectations for the overall trading performance for the year were unchanged.

Meanwhile, the company released more details of its of its operational restructuring, which involves aligning the pubs to their consumer offer, rather than the business model under which they operate.

The pubs will be split into:

Destination and Premium - pubs where the food sales mix is high and the customers' main reason for visiting is to dine. These pubs are expected to be the main driver for growth, increasing by 20-25 pubs a year. There are 301 destination pub restaurants, and 38 pubs trading as either Pitcher and Piano or Revere.

Taverns - Community pubs where the drink sales mix is high but the food sales are increasing in importance. Taverns currently comprises 156 community managed pubs and 1,242 tenanted and franchised pubs, including 379 pubs identified for disposal.

Leased - high quality, distincitve pubs that benefit from increased independence and entrepreneurial licensees. There are 931 pubs in this division.

Marston's said it expected to reduce operating costs by around £3m per year as a result of the changes.

It has opened nine new pub restaurants in the year so far and expects to openat least 20 by the end of the year.