spreadbetters bonanza on mab on 10 pound a point as of 29 april hop on baby

MAB strong today - albeit on less than staggering volume.

Half Yearly Report.

Financial performance

- Retained Estatea revenue growth of 6.3% to £969m, with like-for-likeb growth of 2.7%

- Retained Estatea operating profit up 1.5% to £138m before exceptional items, with net operating marginc down 0.7 percentage points as a result of inflationary cost increases in energy and food

- Exceptional operating costs of £20m include £14m of business and systems restructuring costs, delivering annualised savings of £10m

- Adjusted earnings per shared up 10.6% to 12.5p after lower interest and tax charges

- Net cash flow of £12m after expansionary capital and exceptional items

- Net debt of £1.9bn representing 4.6 times EBITDAe

Statutory results


- Profit before tax down £1m to £42m

- Basic earnings per share down 0.3p to 8.8p

Brand roll-out

- 35 new site openings and 7 conversions in the period with expansionary capex of £42m

- 200th Harvester opened, a major milestone for the brand

- EBITDA returns of 17% achieved on expansionary capex invested over the last two years

Strategic progress

- Business transformation programme underway, simplifying our support functions and sharpening focus on guest service throughout all areas of the business

- IT infrastructure upgraded, laying the foundation for technological enhancements including wi-fi rollout and a faster menu development cycle

- Service quality enhanced through increased investment in site-level operations

Interim Management Statement

Operating performance

Like-for-like sales growth was 0.4% in the 14 weeks to 14 July and 1.9% for the 42 weeks of the year to date, with the recent period in particular adversely impacted by the persistent wet weather and the negative impact of the European Football Championships. Within this, trading on key days and special occasions has remained strong with 4% like-for-like sales growth over the five days of the Diamond Jubilee weekend. Like-for-like growth in the most recent 9 weeks since the date of the Interim Results announcement has been 1.6%.

Final Results

Financial performance

- Total revenue of £1,889m, up 3.3%a
- Like-for-like sales growth of 2.1%b, led by food sales
- Recovery in net operating margin in the second half
- Adjusted operating profit of £304mc, up 1.0%a after inflationary costs and investment into service and amenity
- Adjusted earnings per share of 30.5pc, up 6.4%a
- Net cash flow of £32md after expansionary capital of £55m
- Net debt of £1.8bn representing 4.5 times EBITDAe
- Like-for-like sales broadly flat in the first 8 weeks of FY 2013

Operational performance

- Business transformation programme underway to improve focus on the guest in all areas
- Central support functions and infrastructure reorganised with £6m saving delivered in FY 2012
- Increased investment in training and service; new training academy opened
- Guest satisfaction and retail employee engagement both improved 5 percentage points
- Building on enhanced technology platform to further improve the customer experience with more targeted marketing
- Award-winning brands and infrastructure projects: Harvester and Toby Carvery top Technomic satisfaction poll; Retail Systems Award for Best Use of Technology; Alex wins Consumer Focus award in Germany; M&B awarded Carbon Trust Standard for the second time.

Property Estate

- £37m reduction in property valuation, a 1% decrease excluding acquisitions and conversions
- 47 new site openings and 10 conversions in the period with expansionary capex of £55m
- EBITDA returns of 17% achieved on expansionary capex invested over the last two years

Interim Manangement Statement

Strong Christmas sales despite tough trading conditions

Operating performance

Christmas sales were strong with record levels of advance bookings, particularly on key trading days. Across the festive season1 as a whole, like-for-like sales increased by 4%.

In the 14 weeks to 5 January, like-for-like sales were 1.0% ahead of last year. Since then, trading conditions have been challenging following the holiday period and the UK has been affected by cold weather and snow. As a result, like-for-like sales in the 17 weeks to 26 January were 0.3% lower than last year.

IMS going down rather well.

Half year results tomorrow.

HALF YEAR RESULTS


Statutory results

- Profit before tax: £72m (H1 2012: £42m)

- Basic earnings per share: 14.1p (H1 2012: 8.8p)

Financial highlights

- Total revenue of £991m, up 2%

- Like-for-like sales growth of 0.3%a

- Adjusted operating profit of £145mb, up 5%

- Adjusted earnings per share of 14.6pb, up 17%

- Net cash inflow of £70mc before mandatory bond amortisation of £27m

- Net debt of £1.8bn representing 4.3 times adjusted EBITDAd

Operational highlights

- Restructuring cost savings delivered in full

- Further investment made in guest service through ongoing business transformation programme

- Operating margin up 40 basis points to 14.6% against H1 2012

- EBITDA returns of 17% achieved on expansionary capex invested since FY 2011

Strategic progress

- 'Five star' approach to the market to align strategy with growth potential

- Future investment focused on attractive market spaces: Upmarket Social, Family and Special

- Clear operational priorities: people, practices, guests and profits

Board composition

- Stewart Gilliland appointed as an independent Non-Executive Director

- Three independent Non-Executive Directors appointed this year

Trading Update on Thursday 25th.

Another in the scatter gun portfolio.

Eyes down here and MARS tomorrow!

On edit :- make that Thursday!

HSBC Overweight 420.90 415.00 410.00 500.00 Upgrades

Interim Management Statement

Operating performance

Like-for-like sales growth increased to 1.6% in the third quarter. In the most recent 9 weeks, since the announcement of our Half Year Results, like-for-like sales growth was 2.0%.

Cash flow and balance sheet

There has been no material change to our financial position since the Half Year Results, with net debt broadly unchanged at £1.8bn. We have opened 11 new sites and converted 5 sites so far this financial year.

Numis Add 400.65 426.80 - 500.00 Retains

Pre-close Trading Update

We expect to deliver a full year result in line with the Board's expectations. Total sales growth in the first 51 weeks was 2.1%. Through the second half, the Group operating margin has remained ahead of last year. At the same time, we have maintained our investment into guest-facing service and amenity.

We have opened 16 new sites and converted or expanded 6 sites this financial year. The development of our pipeline of new sites for FY14 and FY15 is progressing well and we expect to increase investment into our most successful brands to open around 50 new sites a year over the medium term.

Like-for-like sales were lower in the fourth quarter against a strong comparative performance last year (+3.0%).

Final Results

Statutory results

- Profit before tax: £150m (FY 2012: £83m)
- Basic earnings per share: 32.9p (FY 2012: 17.1p)

Financial performance (52 week comparables)

- Total revenue of £1,895m, up 2.2%a
- Like-for-like sales growth of 0.4%b
- Adjusted operating profit of £312m, up 5.1%c
- Adjusted earnings per share of 34.9p, up 17.1%c
- Net cash flow of £29md after mandatory bond amortisation of £55m
- Net debt of 4.2 times EBITDAe at year end (FY 2012: 4.5 times EBITDA)


- Like-for-like sales up 0.1% in the first 8 weeks of FY 2014

Operational performance

- Operating margin up 0.5 percentage points to 16.5%f
- Good progress across all priority areas: people, practices, guests and profits
- Staff turnover down 4 ppts and net promoter score up 4 ppts
- New tills, payment systems, table management and kitchen management systems in full roll out

Property Estate

- 16 new sites opened across the upmarket social, family and special market spaces
- 17% EBITDA returns achieved on expansionary capex invested since FY 2011
- £31m increase in property value as a result of annual revaluation and impairment review
- Pipeline of new sites building for FY 2014 and beyond

Numis Buy 424.15 500.00 500.00 Retains

Neutral 404.70 404.70 370.00 390.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 404.70 404.70 435.00 435.00 Retains

Jefferies International Buy 404.70 404.70 500.00 500.00 Reiterates

JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 0.00 450.00 400.00 460.00 Reiterates

Interim Management Statement

Strong festive trading: 6.9m meals sold with 2.6% like-for-like sales growth


Operating performance

Our trading performance over the festive period was strong, including our biggest ever sales week. Over the three-week festive period to 4 January, we increased like-for-like sales by 2.6% and like-for-like food volumes by 1.3%, selling 6.9m meals across our estate. Trading on Christmas Day was particularly strong, with like-for-like sales growth of 7.5% and 193,000 meals sold.

Year to date like-for-like sales are up 2.0%, assisted by the strong festive trading and milder weather compared to last year.


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