UPDATE 2-Pub firm Greene King expects to win market share post-Brexit

(Corrects to remove reference to Hungry Horse as a Spirit brand in paragraph 10. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) is a Greene King (Other OTC: GKNGY - news) brand.)

* Expects to win market share despite Brexit vote

* Comparable retail sales up 2.8 pct since start of current FY

* FY pretax profit beats consensus

* Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) rise as much as 5 pct, down 15 pct over last week

By Esha Vaish

June 29 (Reuters) - Brewer Greene King Plc expects to win market share this year, despite the risk that Britain's vote to leave the European Union will deter people from drinking and dining out at a time when pub firms are already fighting for every pound in consumers' pockets.

CEO Rooney Anand said the company would be able to lure more customers as over 300 of its pubs were switching to more food-driven formats, currently in vogue, and it had gained popular food brands by acquiring Spirit Pub Company (LSE: 120214.L - news) last year.

Shares in Greene King, which brews ales such as Old Speckled Hen, rose as much as 5 percent on Wednesday, after full-year profit beat consensus, but by 1145 GMT were up just 0.26 percent. They are down nearly 15 percent since last week's Brexit vote, amid concerns about potential vulnerability to any fall-off in consumer demand.

The company said like-for-like retail sales rose 2.8 percent over the first eight weeks of the current financial year, as better weather in May and England's involvement in the European soccer championship drove many to its outlets despite reluctance among consumers to spend before the June 23 referendum.

The figure showed an acceleration in sales over the 1.5 percent growth seen in the year to May 1, which had beaten the 1.3 percent rise seen across the wider market.

"The opportunity that Spirit represents in bringing the business together as we are doing, and having the strongest stable of brands and the biggest war chest, will give us opportunities that will enable us to take market share," Anand said.

He said Greene King's confidence about its ability to outperform also stemmed from the fact that it had fared better than its peers after the 2008-9 financial crash.

Panmure Gordon analyst Anna Barnfather said the company's integration initiatives and its ownership of pub properties left it "less operationally geared than many of its leasehold pub and restaurant peers".

Greene King's 774 million-pound Spirit deal, the biggest in its 217-year history, has helped it better compete with rivals such as Marston's Plc, Mitchells & Butlers Plc (LSE: MAB.L - news) and J D Wetherspoon Plc (LSE: JDW.L - news) .

Spirit brands, such as Flaming Grill, were among the first to increase their food offerings to satiate growing appetites among Britons to drink out less and instead opt for value meals that can also be bought at supermarkets and takeaway shops.

Boosted by Spirit synergies, full-year adjusted pretax profit grew 52.2 percent to 256.5 million pounds ($343.6 million), beating analysts' consensus of 246.1 million pounds according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .

Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) analysts wrote that the company was in a "position of comparative strength to withstand any near-term declines in consumer sentiment".

Greene King, however, said that it expected some impact from currency movements as it purchased some items from Europe and some using dollars, and would give an update in December. ($1 = 0.7465 pounds) (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair and Mark Trevelyan)