Turnover at Shepherd Neame increased by 6.3% to £84.1m in the 26 weeks to December 23, the company reveals today, with underlying operating profit up by 3.8% to £7.9m.
Own beer volumes, excluding contract brews, increased by 4.2%, which like-for-like sales grew by 2.1% in both the tenanted and managed divisions.
Chief executive Jonathan Neame (pictured) said: “Despite more challenging trading conditions, the company has had a solid and satisfactory performance in the first half of the financial year.
“The strength of the business lies in our balanced strategic approach across each of our trading divisions. Thus, where the rate of growth of food sales in our managed estate has slowed, drinks sales have performed well, the tenanted like-for-like performance has been good, and the brewing and brands business has enjoyed strong growth.
“We are a well invested business and are well positioned to navigate any future economic and political headwinds. In the second half, we have some exciting plans to develop our pub estate further, and the brewery will undergo on-going modernisation. We remain focused on our core objectives of making investments for the long term benefit of shareholders.”
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