Old Speckled Hen brewer Greene King shrugged off the Olympics and the poor weather to make a robust start to the financial year.
The firm, which operates around 2,300 pubs, restaurants and hotels across Great Britain, reported like-for-like sales up 5.1% in its retail business.
It said the Olympics only had a minimal net impact on overall retail performance in the 18 weeks to September.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
In London, the City and the West End were generally quiet, it said, while in the suburbs, including Realpubs and Capital Pub Company sites, trading was noticeably stronger.
The retail arm achieved like-for-like food sales growth of 5.2%, like-for-like drink sales growth of 5.0% and like-for-like room sales growth of 4.9%.
In Pub Partners, its pub letting arm, after 16 weeks average EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) per pub was up 3.5%.
Like-for-like EBITDA in its core estate was down 0.5%, while total beer volume was up 0.4%.
"We believe underlying trading trends across the business have been maintained through the summer, despite the disappointing weather," the management statement said.
"This is encouraging for the rest of the year, although we expect consumer confidence to remain subdued."
-
Parental contributions to kids' university living costs could reach £14,000 a yearParents helping kids with university living costs face contributions of up to £14,000 per year, according to a report from HEPI and TechnologyOne.
-
Rightmove: property asking prices hit record highNews Rising demand for top of the ladder home is boosting asking prices, Rightmove research shows. Is now a good time to sell a property?
