Fuller, Smith & Turner (FSTA) chief executive Simon Emeny admits he's "not a fan" of the incoming market-rent-only legislation, which removes the beer tie between parent company and pub. Fuller's 203-strong tenanted estate falls well below the regulation's 500-site threshold, suggesting it's a moot point, but Mr Emeny insists the wider market will inevitably change - and "not necessarily in tenants' best interests". Mr Emeny says Fuller's prides itself on the relationship it has with tenants, a standard he feels was undervalued by the previous coalition government.
The company's tenanted estate did well last year. Like-for-like profits rose 5 per cent, with total profits up 2 per cent to £12.6m. During the year, Fuller's offloaded two pubs from this division and moved three over to its managed estate. The larger managed pubs and hotels division pushed total sales up by 15 per cent to £214m, and grew operating profits by 11 per cent to £25m. Reported EPS was slightly down on the previous 12 months, which had seen a £3.4m corporate tax gain. Comprehensive income was further weighed down by an £8.3m actuarial loss on the pension scheme, which was closed to future accrual in January.
Analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profits of £38.5m for the current financial year, giving EPS of 53.5p, up from £36.4m and 50.8p in the year to March 2015.
| FULLER, SMITH & TURNER (FSTA) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,082p | MARKET VALUE: | £600m* | |
| TOUCH: | 1,051,-1,110p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,125p | LOW: 879p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 21 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 513p* | NET DEBT: | 58% | |
| Year to 28 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 242 | 31.0 | 44.1 | 11.8 |
| 2012 | 253 | 28.8 | 42.1 | 12.7 |
| 2013 | 272 | 33.7 | 50.4 | 14.0 |
| 2014 | 288 | 33.5 | 52.1 | 15.1 |
| 2015 | 322 | 36.1 | 51.2 | 16.6 |
| % change | +12 | +8 | -2 | +10 |
Ex-div: 25 Jun Payment: 27 Jul *Includes family-held B shares | ||||
