Marston's drinks to sales increase
Burton-on-Trent pubco Marston’s has managed to keep its head above water with a slight increase in revenue in its preliminary results. The company revealed a 0.9 per cent rise in sales to £650.7m for the year ended 2 October, along with a £3m rise in pre-tax profit.
The company revealed a pre tax profit of £73.5m, a rise of 4.6 per cent on its 2009 results. The results were issued to the London Stock Exchange this morning.
Marston’s said its inns and taverns division had experienced an increase in like-for-like sales of 1.7 per cent, with underlying operating margins up 1 per cent and average profit per pub having risen 10 per cent.
Despite shaving £17.1m from its net debt, the company’s debt figure still stands at £1.08bn.
Ralph Findlay, chief executive of Marston’s, said: ''We have adapted well to market conditions and trends. We are benefiting from our focused, differentiated strategy as demonstrated by our robust results in 2010 and a strong start to the new financial year. Our plans are affordable, deliverable, and target sustainable growth and strong returns in the future.''
