Brexit dominated the headlines the day Young & Co (YNGA) released these half-year results, but the pub group and brewery isn't immune to the outcome. Around 38 per cent of Young's staff are EU nationals, so chief executive Patrick Dardis says a potential deal – particularly around free movement – could be advantageous, while a 'no-deal' scenario could be disastrous for the EU labour force. Mr Dardis referred to an "unprecedented period" for costs as well, especially as the National Living Wage rises and labour markets tighten. This resulted in a slight squeeze in interim like-for-like operating margins from 18.5 per cent to 18.2 per cent.
The six-month period was unprecedented in another sense: the unusually warm summer weather. Boozing in the sunshine boosted like-for-like sales across managed pubs by 5.2 per cent and 4.8 per cent across tenanted sites. This led to an overall 10 per cent increase in drink sales, although the highest rate of growth came from the group's hotels, where two recent acquisitions helped drive an 18 per cent revenue rise. The pace of growth hasn’t slowed in the second half either: total sales across the group are up 7.2 per cent during the past six weeks.
Analysts at Panmure Gordon expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £43m in the year to March 2019, giving EPS of 71p, up from £41m and 68p in FY2018.
| YOUNG & CO (YNGA) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,645p | MARKET VALUE: | £705m* | |
| TOUCH: | 1,615-1,645p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,835p | LOW: 1,305p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.2% | PE RATIO: | 24 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 1,159p* | NET DEBT: | 22% | |
| Half-year to 01 Oct | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 144 | 22.1 | 35.6 | 9.41 |
| 2018 | 157 | 26.4 | 42.5 | 9.97 |
| % change | +9 | +19 | +19 | +6 |
| Ex-div: | 22 Nov | |||
| Payment: | 7 Dec |
