Announcement of Preliminary Results - June 2024

It has been a positive and encouraging period for the Company, with progress in all three divisions, achieving record revenues and a good uplift in profit. 

Strong performances in retail, particularly in London and tenanted pubs

•    Revenue for the year grew by +3.6% to a record £172.3m (2023: £166.3m).
•    Statutory profit before tax grew by +38.1% to £6.8m (2023: £4.9m).
•    Underlying profit before tax¹ grew by +4.4% to £7.9m (2023: £7.6m).
•    Underlying EBITDA² grew by 6.4% to £25.1m (2023: £23.6m).
•    Continued investment in the business. £14.6m of capital expenditure (2023: £17.2m), which was primarily inward investment.
•    Basic earnings per share was 33.0p (2023: 23.5p). Underlying basic earnings per share³ was 37.8p (2023: 41.1p).
•    Net asset value per share⁴ has increased to £12.17 (2023: £12.05).
•    Full year dividend⁵ of 20.70p (2023: 20.00p), an increase of +3.5%.

Divisional highlights:

Retail: continued growth with particularly strong performance within M25

•    Retail LFL sales⁶ inside the M25 were +14.5% (2023: +30.6%) and outside the M25 +1.1% (2023: +6.6%).
•    LFL occupancy was 71.3% (2023: 76.1%) and LFL RevPAR £83 (2023: £85).
•    Divisional revenue in the retail estate on a 53-week basis was £82.9m (2023: £74.4m), up +11.4%. Divisional underlying operating profit was £9.3m (2023: £8.3m).
 

​​Tenanted trade continues to perform well

•    Divisional revenue in tenanted pubs on a 53-week basis was up +5.1% to £35.6m (2023: £33.9m) and divisional underlying operating profit was £12.8m (2023: £12.6m).
 

Beer profits up, but volume down, as business pivots from off-trade to drive growth in higher margin on-trade 

•    Divisional revenue in brewing and brands on a 53-week basis was £52.7m (2023: £56.9m), down -7.4%, but divisional underlying operating profit improved to £1.6m (2023: £1.0m).
•    Performance in the independent on-trade has been strong with many high-profile new accounts won.
 

Current trading

Jonathan Neame, CEO of Shepherd Neame, said:

“We have seen further good progress in all three divisions.

We have great beers and pubs, a strong balance sheet and a well-balanced and cash-generative business. We have a strong pipeline of pub developments and new opportunities in our heartland on-trade. We are optimistic about the consumer outlook and are well positioned for the future, notwithstanding the ongoing cost headwinds we face.”

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¹​​​​​​^{​​​​​​}Profit before any profit or loss on disposal of properties, investment property fair value movements and charges which are either material or infrequent in nature and do not relate to the underlying performance.
²Underlying profit/(loss) before tax pre net finance costs, depreciation, amortisation, profit or loss on sale of fixed assets excluding property, and free trade loan discounts.
³Underlying profit less attributable taxation divided by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period. The numbers of shares in issue excludes those held by the Company and not allocated to employees under the Share Incentive Plan which are treated as cancelled.
⁴Net assets at the reporting date divided by the number of shares in issue, being 14,857,500 50p shares.
⁵The final dividend will be paid on 5 November to shareholders on the register at close of business on 18 October 2024. The ex-dividend date is 17 October 2024.
⁶Retail like-for-like sales includes revenue from the sale of drink, food and accommodation but excludes machine income. Like-for-like sales performance is calculated against a comparable 52-week period in the prior year for pubs that were in the estate in the same period within both years.
⁷Tenanted income calculated to exclude from both years those pubs which have not been in the estate throughout the two years. The principal exclusions are pubs purchased or sold, pubs which have closed, and pubs transferred to or from our retail business. Income is calculated against a comparable 52-week period in the prior year for pubs that were trading in both periods.
⁸Pub profit before depreciation, amortisation, rent and property costs and other cost allocations.
⁹Shepherd Neame branded, licensed, third party, customer own-label and contract beer and cider sales volumes.
¹⁰Shepherd Neame branded, licensed, customer own-label and contract beer and cider sales volumes.
¹¹The periods referred to for financial year 2024 are the comparative month(s) of July, August & September 2023 which were during the financial year 53 weeks to 29 June 2024.
 

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