Announcement of Interim Results 2016

Shepherd Neame, the Kent-based brewer and pub operator, today announces results for the 26 weeks ended 24 December 2016.

Highlights include:

• Period of significant acquisition activity with investment in 13 new freehold pubs
• Turnover for the period increased by 7.4% to £79.2m (2015: £73.7m)
• Underlying operating profit* grew by 6.5% to £7.6m (2015: £7.2m)
• Strong trading performance in all areas of the business
  • Managed estate like-for-like sales up 5.3% (2015: +6.5%), food up 3.3% and accommodation up 9.6%
  • Tenanted like-for-like EBITDAR**grew by 1.7% (2015: +2.7%) and average EBITDAR per pub was up 4.9% (2015: +7.2%)
  • Total own beer volumes excluding contract up 2.2%
• Statutory profit before tax is £6.7m (2015: £8.7m), as profit on disposal of properties returned to more normal levels after the one-off sale of land in 2015
• Underlying basic earnings per share*** up 12.4% to 30.0p (2015: 26.7p)
• Interim dividend increased to 5.62p (2015: 5.45p) per share
• Net assets per share**** increased to £12.69 (2015: £12.36)

* Profit before net finance costs, any profit or loss on the disposal of properties, investment property fair value movements and exceptional items.

** Pub earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent payable

*** Underlying profit less attributable taxation divided by the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period. The number of shares in issue excludes those held by the Company and not allocated to the employees under the Share Incentive Plan, which are treated as cancelled.

**** Net assets at the balance sheet date divided by the number of shares in issue being 14,857,500 50p shares.

Jonathan Neame, Chief Executive, commented:

I am delighted to report a strong performance and a period of significant acquisition activity. Our pub business has been driven by good like-for-like sales growth. It is also encouraging to note solid growth in own brand beer volume. We retain a cautious outlook as we are likely to be entering a period of increased cost inflation. However, I am confident that we have the right strategy and skills to deliver value for our shareholders for the long term.

For full details, click the PDF below: 

Interim Report 2016

The Interim Report is available in two versions: