One of the better Drinks industry Investments/trades.

Certainly got Momentum in its favour and we have a bottom triangle/wedge formation breakout.

First resistance level at around 500p.



dyor

DISPOSAL OF 275 NON-CORE ASSETS

Greene King plc announces that it has agreed the sale of 275 non-core tenanted and leased pubs to Hawthorn Leisure Limited, backed by Avenue Capital Group and May Capital LLP, for a total consideration of £75.6m.

These pubs, located across the UK, generated EBITDA in the last year of £12.4m, implying a disposal multiple of 6.1x. The book value of these pubs was £93.8m and we expect to complete the deal by early June.

Greene King and Hawthorn Leisure have also agreed a three-year beer supply deal for these pubs, securing continued and valuable nationwide distribution for our industry-leading ale brand portfolio.

This transaction is consistent with our stated strategic direction and delivers three important benefits: -

1. Increases the company's exposure to the faster-growing Retail sector;
2. Further improves the quality and outlook of Pub Partners' earnings;
3. Further strengthens the balance sheet providing an opportunity to selectively accelerate retail investment and expansion

Deutsche Bank Buy 890.50 890.50 - 1,045.00 Reiterates

Preliminary Results

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
· Retail like-for-like sales up 4.1%; food like-for-like sales up 5.0%.

· Average EBITDA per pub up 5.2% in Pub Partners; core like-for-like net income up 2.2%.

· Brewing & Brands core own-brewed volume up 4.6%; profit up 1.3%.

· Strong cash flow, lower leverage, earnings & dividend growth.

· Return on capital employed up 30 basis points to 9.2%.

· Continued progress across all businesses in first eight weeks of new financial year.

STRATEGIC PROGRESS
· Portfolio reshaping better positions Greene King for growth and higher returns.

o Added 45 sites to Retail, taking estate to 1,032; Hungry Horse now 226 sites.

o 148 disposals or transfers from Pub Partners; sold 275 site package post year-end.

· Volume share of UK ale market up 70 basis points to 11.3%.

· Evolving strategy to accelerate Retail exposure and move beyond conventional pub offers.

*before exceptional items **F13 restated for impact of IAS 19 (revised 2011), see note 11 of preliminary financial statements

Ex-divi wed 13th Aug 2014 (20.8p)

Interim Management Statement

CURRENT TRADING

Like-for-like (LFL) sales in Retail were up 0.4% in the first 18 weeks of the year, with tough comparatives from the excellent summer last year compounded by a disappointing World Cup this year.

It is also evident that while the UK economy continues to strengthen, customers remain cautious and are spending very carefully. In response to this, we have protected Retail profitability by being careful not to over-invest in tactical, short-term sales building initiatives.

Within Retail, our accommodation business performed well and we saw particularly strong trading at Metropolitan, our premium London pubs, and Farmhouse Inns, our carvery restaurants.

Our Retail expansion programme continued with a net additional five sites opened in the year-to-date, taking the total estate to 1,037 sites, with a healthy pipeline of potential new sites in place. New sites this year are expected to be significantly weighted towards the second half of the year.

Our other businesses also traded well: Pub Partners total LFL net income was up 3.7% after 16 weeks, while in Brewing & Brands, own-brewed volume was up 6.2% after 18 weeks, driven by strong growth from Old Speckled Hen, the UK's no.1 premium ale brand.

Our balance sheet and cash generation remain strong and in line with our expectations.

OUTLOOK

We anticipate that Retail LFL sales will improve as the year progresses and that the momentum in Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands will continue.

More broadly, we remain focused on our strategy of delivering long-term growth and returns to our shareholders through expanding our retail estate, increasing our exposure to the eating out market and driving the best value, service and quality for our customers.

Overall, we look forward to another year of continued progress across the business.

Interim Results

HIGHLIGHTS
· Record sales; retained business growth of 5.3%.

· Retail like-for-like sales +0.8%; Pub Partners like-for-like net income +3.7%; Brewing & Brands own-brewed volume +5.9%.

· Retained business adjusted earnings per share growth of 5.3% with strong cash flow, lower leverage & dividend growth.

· Return on capital employed up 20 basis points on first half last year to 9.2%.

· Further strategic progress:

o Added 11 sites to Retail, taking estate to 1,040.

o Pub Partners estate now 864 sites; average EBITDA per site up 13.8%.

· Recommended proposal to acquire Spirit Pub Company, post period-end.

· After 30 weeks, Retail LFL sales were +0.8% and +1.5% last 12 weeks.

· Bookings for Christmas across Retail are +7.2%.

Interim Management Statement

Greene King announces its trading update for the 36 weeks to 11 January 2015.

· Retail like-for-like (LFL) sales up 2.0% over Christmas & the New Year and 0.6% year-to-date.
· Retail LFL sales in line with last year in the last six weeks despite tough comparatives.
· Pub Partners LFL net income up 2.8% & Brewing & Brands own-brewed volume (OBV) growth up 5.2%.

Rooney Anand, chief executive officer, said:

"Sales were encouraging in our retail business over the important two weeks covering Christmas and the New Year, despite a very tough comparative from last year and softer trading in Scotland, following the introduction of tougher drink-driving laws. Outside of those weeks, trading was more volatile, with the weeks before Christmas slightly down on the previous year and soft trading since the New Year.

This performance was delivered in a continued challenging environment, as highlighted by the most recent Greene King Leisure Tracker, which reported an 8% year-on-year fall in household leisure spending in November.

We are delighted that last week Greene King and Spirit Pub Company shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of the proposed transaction between our two companies. This will create the UK's leading managed pub company and deliver significant shareholder value through material synergy generation and anticipated earnings accretion. The exact timing of the completion of the deal remains uncertain but we are working closely with the Competition and Markets Authority and expect the deal to complete by the end of the first half of 2015."

TRADING

Total sales in Greene King Retail were up 5.9% after 36 weeks, with LFL sales growth of 0.6%. LFL sales in the last six weeks were in line with last year, against growth of 5.0% in the same period last year, and slower trading in Scotland due to a combination of the new drink-driving laws and poorer weather. Excluding Scotland, Retail LFL sales were up 0.6% in the last six weeks. Retail LFL sales in the two weeks over Christmas and the New Year were up 2.0% against growth of 6.4% in the same period last year.

We received a record 780,000 Christmas bookings, up 7.0%, with LFL growth of 3.5%. As a consequence, we achieved record Retail sales of £3.4m on Christmas Day, including a record single site trading day of £15.5k at our Farmhouse Inn in Castleford. We also saw sales of Prosecco grow 78% over the two key weeks of the period, indicating that value remains a key consideration for customers.

Our best performing brands over the last six weeks were Metropolitan, reflecting the ongoing strength of the London market, and our more food-led brands including Farmhouse Inns.

After 36 weeks, LFL net income at Pub Partners was up 2.8%. All the key licensee health measures remain strong and anecdotal evidence from licensees has been positive regarding festive trading, particularly around food sales.

Brewing & Brands own-brewed volume was up 5.2% after 36 weeks with growth of 3.7% over the last six weeks. Growth continues to be driven by our take home and export channels, and by Old Speckled Hen, the UK's leading premium ale brand.

TRADING STATEMENT

At its AGM today, Greene King will make the following trading statement for the 18 weeks to 6 September 2015.

CURRENT TRADING

In the first 18 weeks of the year, like-for-like (LFL) sales in Greene King Retail grew by 1.3% with growth of 1.9% in the last ten weeks. All major sales categories are in LFL sales growth.

Excluding the continued impact of drink-driving regulations in Scotland, LFL sales were up 1.8% in the first 18 weeks, and up 2.4% in the last ten weeks.

LFL sales in the Spirit managed estate grew by 0.8% over the last 18 weeks.

In our Pub Partners business, LFL net income was up by 2.0% after 16 weeks, while it was up 1.1% in the Spirit leased estate. Brewing & Brands own-brewed volume grew 1.7% in the first 18 weeks of the year with good growth seen from Old Speckled Hen, Greene King IPA and Abbot Ale, despite strong Take Home comparatives due to the World Cup last year.

SPIRIT UPDATE

Although it is still early in the process, the integration of Spirit is going well and we remain confident of generating at least £30m of cost synergies. On 28 August 2015, we exchanged contracts on all 16 of the pubs that we were required to sell by the Competition and Markets Authority and we expect completion in early October 2015.

We will provide a further update on the integration at our interim results on 2 December 2015.

Not sure why this has been hit so hard recently. On my watch list as a reasonable divi payer.

StockMarketWire.com
Greene King reports a strong first half with revenue and profit growth across all divisions.

Revenue from the existing Greene King business was up 5.4% to £648.4m and the total increased by 49.2% to £917.7m, including a 17 week contribution from Spirit.

Operating profit before exceptional items grew 4.1% in the existing Greene King estate and 46.1% to £180.2m when including Spirit and synergies realised to date. Overall, profit before tax and exceptional items grew 46.9% to £121.3m and adjusted earnings per share increased by 15.4% to 34.5p.

Following a period of further progress across the group and reflecting our confidence in future prospects for the company, the board has declared an interim dividend of 8.45p per share, up 6.3% on last year. The interim dividend will be paid on 22 January 2016 to those shareholders on the register at the close of business on 18 December 2015.

The group says: "On 23 June 2015 we completed the acquisition of Spirit Pub Company plc. We have since conducted a thorough and detailed review of the business and the integration process is under way. We are pleased to report that the integration of Spirit is proceeding well and we remain excited by the opportunities for the combined group."

Chief executive Rooney Anand said: "It has been a strong first half, with the Greene King business strengthening and significant progress made in the Spirit integration. Like-for-like sales growth in Greene King Retail improved during the half and both Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands delivered profit growth and margin expansion.

"We completed the acquisition of Spirit Pub Company and, by combining the best of both companies, made good progress in capturing value from the acquisition and creating the UK's leading pub hospitality company.

"We believe we have the best portfolio of retail pub brands, the best pub assets and the most talented team which, when combined with the strong contribution from synergies and the benefits of our enlarged scale, will ensure we continue delivering value to our customers and our shareholders."

Goodbody broker note:
"Greene King reported H116 results this morning with group revenues of £917.7m and PBT of £121.3m, representing 49% and 47% yoy growth respectively. This compares to our expectations for revenues of £893m and PBT of £102.4m. Operating margin was 19.6%, down 50 bps yoy as there was a higher contribution from managed pubs and slightly higher costs. Adjusted basic EPS was 34.5p, +15.4% yoy. The interim dividend was 8.45p, +6.3% yoy.
The Retail division delivered revenues of £740.2m, +59% yoy growth which was primarily driven by the Spirit acquisition. Excluding Spirit, Retail grew revenues by 6.7%. In H1, lfl sales grew by 2% versus our expectations for +1.5%, with lfls in the last 6 weeks of the period up 4.3%, aided by the Rugby World Cup. Spirit retail LFL sales for H1 were +1.2%. In H1, there were 10 new pub openings and 13 pub disposals (including 10 required by CMA). Management noted that since the period end it has seen broadly similar trading patterns across all divisions.
The Pub Partners division reported H1 revenues of £82.1m, +41% yoy growth. In H1, lfl sales grew by 2.4% with Spirit leased pubs +1.4%. Management continued to dispose of leased pubs with 15 disposals (incl. 6 required by CMA). The Brewing and Brands division reported revenues of £95.4m, +4.7% yoy. Own brewed volumes grew 3.6% yoy (including the additional volumes to Spirit pubs). Operating profit came in at £14.5m, +5.1% yoy with management attributing the margin benefit to channel mix and cost efficiencies in H215.
Management noted that the Spirit integration is proceeding well and is ahead of plan. In H1, the tenanted and leased pubs were fully integrated into the group. Management have revised its initial cost synergies target of “at least” £30m up to £35m with £12m in FY16 and also highlighted the potential for additional revenue benefits. Management has stated that it will invest an incremental £40-50m in brands and format optimisation over a 3 year period commencing 2016/17. Greene King’s results for H1 were impressive and we expect to see upward bias to forecasts. In relation to the National Living Wage impact, management stated that it believes that it will be able to mitigate most of the impact focussing on labour scheduling. Management guidance is for incremental cost £2m in FY17 and £6m in FY18. We maintain our positive view and re-iterate our BUY recommendation."

British brewer Greene King on Wednesday said exports of its India pale ale to China had increased sixteen-fold after President Xi Jinping was photographed enjoying a pint during his recent state visit.
The brewer has shipped 50,000 cases of the hoppy beer to China after Xi's visit to The Plough pub in Buckinghamshire, southern England, with Prime Minister David Cameron during October's trip.
"If the British prime minister chooses to drink IPA that's normal, but if the president of China chooses to drink a British beer it attracts lots of interest," Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand said.
"We've had a sixteen-fold increase in orders from China for IPA in the last few weeks and 50,000 cases are on a boat now to arrive in time for Chinese New Year."

Jefferies International today reaffirms its hold investment rating on Greene King PLC (LON:GNK) and raised its price target to 940p (from 840p).

StockMarketWire.com
Greene King reports another strong performance with all divisions trading well during the important festive period, and record trading on Christmas Day.

Combined Retail sales were up 67% in the 40 weeks to 7 February benefiting from a 33 week contribution from Spirit and 6% growth at Greene King.

In the Greene King estate, like-for-like sales were up 2.2%, led by Locals Pubs and hotels, with growth in food, drink and rooms. LFL sales grew by 1.1% in the Spirit Managed business, where the group saw continued strength in Chef & Brewer.

The group achieved record sales of £6.8m on Christmas Day in the combined retail estate which was led by food and included a record pub trading day of £19k at the Farmhouse Inn in Ashton-under-Lyme. Over the Christmas and New Year weeks, Prosecco volumes were up 69% while Premium Gin grew 77%, and at New Year a record 4,447 drinks per minute were sold in the last hour of 2015.

In addition to the ongoing strong growth in the underlying Retail business, teh group opened 10 new sites in its combined retail estate in the year to date.

Chief executive Rooney Anand said: "This was another strong performance, with all divisions trading well during the important festive period, and record trading on Christmas Day. The latest Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker shows that, despite varying their choices when eating out, pubs were a major destination for customers. Our positive trading results are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our teams who gave our guests great experiences, with value, service and quality central to our offer.

"I am pleased to report continued progress with the Spirit integration, including encouraging signs from our rebranded trial sites thus far, and continued progress in terms of synergy delivery. Our focus remains on the development and continuous enhancement of our core Greene King business while successfully integrating Spirit, to create the UK's leading pub company."

StockMarketWire.com
Greene King is confident of delivering another year of strategic and financial progress, shareholders at the annual general meeting today will be told.

Greene King says that in the first 18 weeks of the year, Pub Company delivered like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of 1.7% including a strong start to the year as customers enjoyed the European Football Championships and better weather. Growth was driven by our Local Pubs estate.

In Pub Partners, LFL net income was up 4.5% after 16 weeks, while in Brewing & Brands, own-brewed volume declined 0.5% over the same period. A statement says: "We continued to make strong progress with the integration of Spirit including the delivery of further planned synergies and over a quarter of our managed pubs now operating with the 'best of both' IT system.

"We also completed 41 brand conversions in the year-to-date with encouraging sales uplifts.

"As expected, uncertainty surrounding the UK's future withdrawal from the European Union has translated into a softening of some economic indicators and a reduction in consumer confidence.

"While the broader implications remain unclear, a number of recent industry surveys have flagged risks to leisure spend and we are alert to a potentially tougher trading environment ahead.

"With this in mind, we will continue to focus on delivering great value, service and quality to our customers. Greene King has a track record of success in challenging trading environments and our strong balance sheet and enhanced opportunities following the Spirit acquisition will help limit any potential impact from prolonged uncertainty in the environment."

Greene King also announced the appointment of Gordon Fryett as a non-executive director with effect from 1 December. He will also become a member of the audit, nomination and remuneration committees. He has many years' experience in retail and property matters, having spent his career at Tesco plc, where his roles, prior to his retirement in 2013, included playing a leading role in Tesco's expansion in the UK and overseas, the development and management of the group's property portfolio and CEO of Tesco Ireland.

i thought pretty good results though i admit the forward forecast was not exactly bullish
nevertheless, is the fall of 3.5% this morning really warranted?
indeed, sp is now down to ~800 from even recent levels of ~900 and ~980 at the beginning of the year

Will have a punt if they get to 700p any time soon.

a brief analysis just picked up .....

Shares in this pub operator have not exactly blossomed over the past year, having hit a multi-year high towards the end of 2015. First half earnings are expected on 30 November. The most recent update saw like-for-like sales rise 1.7% for the 18 weeks to 4 September, an improvement over the 1.5% rise for the twelve months to April, and ahead of the broader sector. A brand improvement drive for key restaurants such as Flaming Grill and Hungry Horse should help boost the appeal. Full year earnings are expected to increase by 3% and 4% for the years to April 2017 and 2018 respectively.
At 9.8 time earnings, the shares trade on a relatively undemanding multiple (five-year average being 11.7). A 4.4% dividend yield also boosts the attractiveness of the shares. Some cost inflation from sterling weakness may compress margins, while the ongoing rise in the minimum wage will make itself felt in the sector.

Greene King's out-performance continues.

StockMarketWire.com

Greene King has reported another set of record results following continued market out-performance.

Revenue rose by 6.9% to a record £2,216.5m, and operating profit before exceptional and non-underlying items increased by 4.9% to £411.5m.

Chief executive Rooney Anand said: "Greene King has delivered another set of record results, generating full year EBITDA of over £500m for the first time.