Shares in the company behind All Bar One are crashing

A man sits in an All Bar One bar in Fulham March 13, 2003 in London. Six Continents, the world's biggest international hotelier, won its battle with hostile bidder Hugh Osmond when shareholders backed management plans to split the business in two. Shareholders first voted down Osmond's call to postpone the session and then backed the management's plan to separate Six Continents' InterContinental and Holiday Inn hotels from its restaurant and bar interests which include All Bar One and O'Neill's. (Photo by )

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• Mitchells & Butlers reports 18% fall in profits as fall in the pound pushes up costs.

• Shares fall 10% at the open but have since recovered slightly.

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LONDON — Shares in pub and restaurant owner Mitchells & Butlers are falling on Thursday morning after the company reported a steep fall in profits and warned of Brexit-related headwinds.

Mitchells & Butlers, which owns chains such as All Bar One, Toby Carvery, Harvesters, and Nicholson's pubs, said that pre-tax profit for the year fell 18% to £77 million. Revenue rose 4.5% to £2.1 billion but rising costs meant the company failed to capitalise on rising sales.

"Cost headwinds across the industry have adversely affected margins but we continue to work hard to mitigate as much of these as possible through our focus on efficiency and profitable sales growth," CEO Phil Urban said.

Mitchells & Butlers blamed the "unprecedented cost headwinds" on the collapse in the value of the pound after last year's Brexit referendum. The pound fell to a 31-year-low against the dollar and a 7-year-low against the euro in the wake of the June 2016 vote.

The company also warns that Brexit could impact its business in three key ways in the future:

• by depressing consumer confidence;

• changes in employment and immigration laws;

• and further changes in sterling impacting on input costs.

Mitchells & Butlers' share price fell 10% at the open in London and remains over 8% lower at 9.30 a.m. GMT (4.30 a.m. ET).

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Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said in an email: "Investors are clearly focusing on cost issues affecting the whole industry. These include the living wage, business rates, apprenticeship levy, sugar tax, restaurant discounting, changes in consumer habits (eating out less frequently, but spending more) and Brexit uncertainty.

"An early decision not to pay an interim dividend, pending a year-end assessment, also suggests a murky outlook that is sapping management confidence."

Mitchells & Butlers' warning on rising costs comes in stark contrast to JD Wetherspoon. Tim Martin, the founder of the pub chain and a staunch Brexit supporter, said that a "hard Brexit" would "reduce the average cost of a meal by about 3.5 pence and the cost of a drink by 0.5 pence" at one of his pubs.

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See Also:

• The EU is set to vote on new cities for banking and medicines agencies post-Brexit

• UBS: The pound is the world's most overvalued major currency

• Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein hints at support for a 2nd Brexit referendum

SEE ALSO: JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin attacks Brexit 'misinformation' from business leaders and the media

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