The World Cup Tournament is offering a welcome winter bonus, according to Marston’s, a public pub group.
According to CEO Andrew Andrea, competition drink sales are up about 50 percent from last year, while food sales are up as well.
If England’s luck is against France on Saturday, the chain said it was also comforted by promises of Christmas bookings – the first time in three years without Covid restrictions. Christmas dinners are 10 percent more expensive this year, but so far bookings are higher than before the pandemic.
Marston’s, which operates 1,468 pubs in the UK, said comparable drink sales were up 6.8% year on year, though they remain below pre-pandemic levels.
Beverage sales continued to outpace food sales, showing that the group was made up primarily of community bars.
The Wolverhampton-based company posted a pre-tax profit of £163.4m for the year ended October 1, compared to a loss of £171.1m in 2021. Total revenue was £799.6m compared to £401.7m last year.
The company was helped by stronger sales and efforts to offset skyrocketing costs. Marston said it capped its electricity bills for the first half of next year and locked in gas bills through 2025.
We are not the cheapest, but we are not the most expensive either. So I think we are getting good value for money,” said Mr. Andreas. For 2026, he set himself a Back to a Billion sales goal.
“Our property is well positioned to benefit from changing consumer behavior patterns. We are coping well with cost inflation and are confident that our drive to further deleverage the group and bring revenue to £1bn will boost net worth and shareholder value,” he added.
“Marston’s continues to be well funded and in great shape to meet the challenges ahead with the right formula, strategy and team to keep moving forward and creating shareholder value.”
Russ Mold, Chief Investment Officer of AJ Bell, said: “Shareholders may be toasting a return to Marston’s, but the pub chain still faces a number of challenges as it looks to end 2022 on a strong footing.
“Not the least of which is the potential impact of further rail strikes, which could lead to the cancellation of Christmas parties and people meeting at home rather than solving traffic problems.
“Marston’s can have an edge when people feel too attached to dinner at a trendy restaurant but still prefer to dine with friends and opt for a pub instead.”
Source: I News
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