Food drives 9% revenue increase for Greene King

Greene King's strong growth in food sales has helped increase revenue by 9% to £527.5m for the 24 weeks to 16 October 2011.

Pre-tax profit was also up by 5.6% to £77.2m.

The period saw Greene King acquire Capital Pub Company, and said it was on track with its strategy to add 35 sites to Greene King Retail, its managed pubs division which includes food-led brands like Hungry Horse and Loch Fyne restaurants.

It has also created 800 apprenticeships to support an increased focus on its retail business.

Rooney Anand, Greene King chief executive, said: "This is another record set of results for Greene King, delivering strong sales, profit and earnings growth in a difficult consumer environment. Our largest, fastest-growing and increasingly-branded business, Retail, has achieved 10% profit growth, driven both organically and through our Retail expansion strategy. We took further share in the eating out market with 16% food sales growth in the period. Pub Partners continues to reposition itself towards a more sustainable, customer-focused model, while Brewing & Brands has achieved encouraging growth and market outperformance.

"Falling consumer confidence and the weakening of the UK economic recovery suggest that we will face another tough trading environment in 2012. Despite this, there are still significant opportunities for growth, and we believe our strategy to grow our Retail estate and our share of the eating out market will help us to maintain our track record of strong earnings and dividends."

Greene King trumps Fuller's in £93m Capital Pub Company deal >>

Greene King buys restaurant firm Cloverleaf for £56m >>

By Neil Gerrard

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