GREENE KING, the owner of Belhaven brewery, has reinforced its commitment to Scotland as it passed the £2 billion revenue milestone in its first full year results since the £774m acquisition of Spirit Pub Company.
Chief executive Rooney Anand, said Scottish operations had a “very, very good year”, and shrugged off concerns over Brexit, noting that "it is likely that consumer confidence will be affected by Brexit in the near-term… but half our base voted for it and the other half will continue to want to eat and drink out.”
The pub and brewing group saw revenue grow in all three divisions as it profits leapt 60 per cent to 189.8m.
Declining to split out the Scottish performance of the company, Mr Anand – referencing the Scottish independence referendum and changes to the drink driving laws – said: “When you think about where we’ve come from, I’d like to report the Scottish business has had a very, very good year, both on an underlying basis and with the addition of Spirit.”
The Spirit integration added 791 managed pubs to its estate, including the Flaming Grill and Chef & Brewer brands. Synergies since the July acquisition were 16.7m against an expected £12m. Annual savings are therefore expected to be in the region of £35m.
Mr Anand added: “Our commitment to and investment in Scotland remains strong and consistent and will absolutely continue in the next year.”
Mr Anand, who has led the Burton-based brewer to significant growth since his appointment in 2005, said he was being “realistic and aware of a change in the mood” after the Brexit vote, but wouldn’t change outlook or guidance.
“It’s difficult to be precise about Brexit; we’re watching to see how things develop…. We’re a British-based business that makes its money in Britain, so while it is a profound event it isn’t the same level of scenario as 2008. We posted record results four years in a row after the credit crunch and the team prides itself on being nimble, agile and realistic.”
Mr Anand said there was great momentum in the group, and further synergies would drive income over the next few years.
Greene King, which employs more than 3,800 people across 288 Scottish pubs, increased sales of Belhaven, and Mr Anand said he was committed to further growing the group’s craft beer output, having already ploughed £1m into commissioning a new craft brewery in Bury St Edmunds.
“It’s exciting and to be applauded, the growth of craft beer, led by people like Brewdog and Harviestoun in Scotland. Younger, edgier brewers are coming in now and achieving something that we’ve been trying to do for decades, and that’s made beer funky again.”
The brewing and brands division posted sales of £197m – when Greene King acquired Belhaven in 2005 this was around £84m, so in a market that has declined around two percent in that time, Greene King has more than doubled sales. “It’s a British brewing business that has grown strongly for 10 years,” said Mr Anand.
When asked if Scotland would replicate the pub code in England and Wales, Mr Andand said that with recent political events there was “bigger fish to fry” for the Scottish Government.
Earnings per share were up 14.6 per cent to 69.9p, and investors will see a 7.7 per cent increase in the dividend to 32.05p.
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