Marston’s sales benefit from appetite for food
PUB group Marston’s saw first half revenues rise after being boosted by strong food sales.
The company, which has 2,200 pubs across Britain, said sales at its managed pubs open for more than a year were up 1.4 per cent in the 26 weeks to 3 April.
During the half year, food sales were up 2.5 per cent and drink sales grew 0.5 per cent, mirroring similar rises at other drinks groups.
Meanwhile Marston’s, led by chief executive Ralph Findlay, said Easter trading was slightly ahead of last year.
The company said in a statement yesterday: “We are encouraged by our performance in the first half. We remain on track to meet our expectations for the financial year and continue to see improvement in each of our trading divisions.”
At Marston’s tenanted pubs, like-for-like profit in the period was down 4.6 per cent, an improvement on a 4.9 per cent decline.