Young’s toasting a stellar year
UK PUB chain Young and Co Brewery recorded bumper growth in the year ending 30 March, with pre-tax profits up by a third annual results revealed yesterday.
The pub operator, more commonly referred to as Young’s, owns or manages several well known City pubs including the Lamb Tavern in Leadenhall and Dirty Dicks on Bishopsgate.
Young’s will reward shareholders with a six per cent increase in the dividend to 8.56p, marking its 18th consecutive year of dividend growth, after positive results showed revenues and profits had increased.
The company, which added eight new pubs last year, said the shift by consumers towards premium brands had contributed to a 5.6 per cent increase in drink sales on a like-for-like basis. Overall, revenues increased 7.7 per cent on the year to £227m leading to an increase in pre-tax profits of 35.7 per cent to £36m.
Young’s said the firm’s strong sales performance had continued into the current period and expects to benefit from the improving economy and consumer confidence.
Investors reacted positively to the results – shares closed up 1.4 per cent.