Pubs operator Greene King (GNK) enjoyed its strongest ever Christmas and New Year trading to round off an impressive year. Comparable trading periods are getting tougher to beat; nevertheless, like-for-like sales in managed pubs rose 2.8 per cent over the six weeks to 6 January. Like-for-like sales growth for the first 36 weeks of the year was 3.7 per cent.
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Food sales were particularly good and the group served 448,000 Christmas meals over the period. The tenanted pubs put in a solid performance, too, reporting a 4.2 per cent increase in the average cash profit per pub in the first 36 weeks of the year.