Shepherd Neame grows profits by a fifth in second half of 2014
BRITAIN’S oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame, yesterday revealed it had grown profits by over a fifth in the second half of the year.
The Kent-based beer and pub firm increased its bottom line profits by 22.7 per cent to £5m, from £4.1m in the same period of 2013. Turnover grew by 1.5 per cent to £73.5m, a fall on the 4.7 per cent increase of the previous year.
“I am pleased to report strong trading across the business, particularly in our inns and hotels, and good like-for-like performance in the tenanted estate,” said chief executive Jonathan Neame.
“There has been a higher quality mix of pub revenues and greater share of own beer volume and it is pleasing that operating margin before exceptional items increased by 0.3 per cent in the period.
“We are pursuing a consistent long-term strategy to build the quality of our pub portfolio and brand assets.”
Those brands include cult labels such as Asahi, Samuel Adams, Spitfire and Bishops Finger.