The general upturn in the pub market since the start of the year was amply demonstrated by these decent half-year figures from Young & Co's Brewery (YNGA). The London-focused pub company was well-placed to benefit from both demand from the capital's well-healed commuters and rising asset prices in the south east. Accordingly, like-for-like sales grew 5.6 per cent, despite the tougher comparisons generated from last year's Olympic Games.
The key to that performance was the managed estate, which comprises 128 properties - including hotels, Young's pubs and branded Geronimo pubs - out of the company's 240-strong estate. Like-for-like revenues there grew 6 per cent to £102m and translated into a 13.4 per cent rise in underlying operating profit, to £25.3m. Expansion played only a modest role, with just four freehold properties added to the estate during the period and improvements came through on the back off investment. That reached £17.7m during the half, including the cost of the four freehold properties, and management expects to spend up to 7 per cent of annual sales on maintaining its existing pubs.
Broker Panmure Gordon upgraded its forecasts by around 4 per cent and now expects pre-tax profit for 2014 of £25.8m, giving EPS of 41.6p (from £24.1m and 37.8p in 2013).
YOUNG & CO'S BREWERY (YNGA) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,010p | MARKET VALUE: | £430m* | |
| TOUCH: | 1,010-1,050p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,110p | LOW: 690p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 734p* | NET DEBT: | 32% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 100 | 13.6 | 23.3 | 7.02 |
| 2013 | 108 | 14.9 | 27.9 | 7.45 |
| % change | +8 | +10 | +20 | +6 |
Ex-div: 27 Nov Payment: 13 Dec *Reflects both 'A' and non-voting shares | ||||
