Table of Contents
- Shepherd Neame’s sales rose 3.6% to £172.3m in the 53 weeks to June 29.
- The continued return of office workers to central London helped boost incomes
Shepherd Neame has raised concerns about the impact of the proposed reforms on the labor market, with higher costs weighing on the brewer’s growth prospects.
The Labor Government has promised to reform zero-hour contracts, remove the three-day waiting period for statutory sick pay and allow workers and employees to claim unfair dismissal from day one.
In the short term, Shepherd Neame warned that proposed changes to employment laws could increase costs and reduce flexibility.
Here’s to that: Shepherd Neame revealed its sales rose 3.6 per cent to £172.3m in the 53 weeks to June 29 following a strong recovery at its London premises.
It came as Britain’s oldest brewery revealed sales rose 3.6 per cent to £172.3m in the 53 weeks to June 29 following a strong recovery at its London premises.
The continued return of office workers to central London helped the group’s retail revenue within the M25 rise 14.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
By comparison, they grew just 1.1 per cent outside the M25 amid poor weather, which particularly affected their coastal sites during the summer last year, and pressures on consumers’ cost of living due to higher bills. energy and interest rates.
However, increased trading at its retail and leased pubs offset the fall in beer and brand sales by 7.4 per cent to £52.7m due to declining beer volumes as the company moved more towards sales sites.
As a result, the Kent-based company’s statutory pre-tax profits soared 38.1 per cent to £6.8m, despite its cost base increasing by 7.5 per cent.
As well as higher labor costs, Shepherd Neame warned of an “above inflation” rise in packaging and logistics waste costs, which it said will “slow down our progress”.
The group recorded core cost inflation of 7.5 per cent over the past 12 months, which it said was “driven by increases in labor and logistics”.
However, he expects consumer confidence to improve over the next two years as interest rates fall and disposable income rises, factors that have traditionally driven footfall in pubs.
In the 13 weeks to September 28, the company’s comparable turnover increased by 3.8 percent thanks to sunny weather from mid-July to the end of August.
Meanwhile, like-for-like revenue from leased pubs for the nine weeks to August 31, 2024 was 3.1 per cent higher.
Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Shepherd Neame, said: “We have great beers and pubs, a strong balance sheet and a well-balanced, cash-generating business.”
‘We have a strong portfolio of pub developments and new opportunities in the hospitality trade at our heart. “We are optimistic about consumer prospects and are well positioned for the future, despite the continued cost headwinds we face.”
Founded in 1698, Shepherd Neame operates 291 pubs across London and the South East, where customers can sip pints from Spitfire, Bishops Finger, Whitstable Bay and Bear Island.
DIY INVESTMENT PLATFORMS
AJ Bell
AJ Bell
Easy investing and ready-to-use portfolios
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown
Free Fund Trading and Investment Ideas
interactive inverter
interactive inverter
Fixed fee investing from £4.99 per month
sax
sax
Get £200 back in trading fees
Trade 212
Trade 212
Free trading and no account commission
Affiliate links: If you purchase a This is Money product you may earn a commission. These offers are chosen by our editorial team as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.
