Marston’s says Jubilee cheer helped offset rain as sales rise
MARSTON’S raised a glass to a successful Diamond Jubilee weekend as the pub and brewing company posted a 2.2 per cent rise in third-quarter sales at its managed pubs.
The group, which has around 2,150 managed, tenanted and franchised pubs, described its performance in recent weeks as “satisfactory” in spite of the wet weather dampening sales.
Ralph Findlay, chief executive said: “In recent weeks we have achieved sales growth despite the poor weather, helped by key trading events including the Jubilee weekend, Euro 2012 and Father’s Day.”
“By the end of this financial year we will have built around 60 new pub-restaurants in three years, and we have a clear site pipeline for future development,” he added.
Marston’s also runs five breweries and said it continued to increase market share with own-brewed beer volumes up around two per cent on last year. Operating profit at its tenanted and franchised pubs also improved and is estimated to be 3.2 per cent ahead of last year.
Marston’s shares closed 1.7 per cent higher at 109.8p yesterday.