Yahoo Finance World Cup and hot summer boost sales at All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers
The owner of Toby Carvery, Harvester and All Bar One defied a downturn in the casual dining sector as the World Cup and soaring temperatures over the summer buoyed sales.
Mitchells & Butlers, which owns more than a dozen pub and restaurant chains including O’Neills and Vintage Inns, reported revenues up 2.2pc in the eight weeks to September 22 on a like-for-like basis - stripping out the impact of newly opened and closed premises.
However it confirmed previous warnings that margins were likely to slip thanks to the rising cost of food, wages, energy and rents, which have weighed heavily on the sector this year.
A whirlwind of higher overheads and stalling consumer confidence has led several restaurant chains including Prezzo, Byron, Carluccio’s and Jamie’s Italian to shut dozens of sites through insolvency deals with landlords in recent months.
But Phil Urban, Mitchells & Butler’s chief executive, said the FTSE 250 group was “building momentum” and “seeing encouraging results” from its transformation efforts.
The board is confident of delivering full-year results in line with market expectations, he added.
Mitchells & Butlers has opened seven new outlets and converted or remodeled 232 others in the year to date as part of attempts to take its estate more upmarket.
Sales were up 1.2pc in the year-to-date on a like-for-like basis but only 0.5pc overall because of closures.
The upbeat update follows an 8pc slump in pre-tax profits to £69m in the six months to March, when the company was battered by the “Beast from the East’s” wintery storms.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said the sales rise was a “good step forward” for the business, which is now “in better shape” having lagged behind others in the sector for a long time.
He added: “However, the journey is still ongoing and for shareholders there remain doubts over when the dividend is going to reappear.”
Shares in Mitchells & Butlers were up 2.2pc at 267p in noon trade.
