Sales growth for Spirit on successful demerger
SPIRIT Pub Company said yesterday it was on track to meet its full year expectations as sales at its managed pubs grew 5.6 per cent in its second quarter.
Drink sales were up 5.2 per cent, while food sales led the way with 7.2 per cent growth during the period.
Spirit, which operates about 800 pubs including the Chef & Brewer and Flaming Grill chains, said it had taken full control of its leased estate following the end of the management services agreement with Punch Taverns and identified up to 80 underperforming pubs for disposal.
Punch Taverns demerged its better-performing division Spirit last year as part of a move to cut billions of pounds of debt.
Spirit said it had repurchased a further £11m of bonds, taking the total to £36m for the year’s first half.
Shares rose one per cent to 61p, and have risen about 41 per cent since the beginning of this year.