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Young & Co’s Brewery PLC on Thursday expressed confidence in its ability to produce long-term growth as profit and revenue rose for its half-year. In the six months to September, the London-based brewer reported a 3.3% increase in pretax profit to £25.3 million from £24.5 million the prior year. Revenue for the firm was up 27% to £250.0 million from £196.5 million, driven by continued investment in its estate coupled with the full period’s revenue from City Pub Group. Young’s acquired City Pub Group in March in a £162 million cash-and-shares deal, with it now fully integrated into the firm’s structure. Young’s said it also benefitted from sales increases in the period tied to England’s performance at Euro 2024, but with challenging weather in the early spring and summer periods serving as a drag. ‘We’ve achieved a huge amount as a business in the last six months, reflected in another strong set of results. The City Pub Group integration has gone well, with the pub teams welcomed into the Young’s family and all operational control brought together under one leadership team,’ Chief Executive Officer Simon Dodd said. ‘Given the quality of our estate and on-going strategy, we remain confident in our ability to deliver long-term growth,’ Dodd added. In line with its progressive dividend policy, Young’s lifted its interim dividend by 6.0% to 11.53 pence per share from 10.88p the prior year. Young’s added that trading since the period-end has been promising, with rugby autumn internationals boosting sales in south-west London and with Christmas bookings up 33% on-year. However, the firm acknowledged the increased near-term costs resulting from the government’s budget in October, citing an £11 million annualised impact from April next year. Dodd said: ‘We will work to see how we can mitigate these headwinds without passing on all the cost to our loyal customers.’ Shares in Young & Co’s were up 2.2% at 936.00 pence on Thursday morning in London. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
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