13 NOVEMBER 2024
FULLER, SMITH & TURNER P.L.C.
(“Fuller’s”, the “Company”, or the “Group”)
Financial results for the 26 weeks to 28 September 2024
Delivering our strategic objectives today to grow the business for tomorrow
Financial and Operational Highlights
| Unaudited | Unaudited | Audited | |||
| 26 weeksended28 September | 26 weeks ended30 September | 52 weeks ended30 March | |||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | |||
| £m | £m | £m | |||
| Revenue and other income | 194.1 | 188.8 | 359.1 | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA1 | 37.6 | 34.8 | 60.8 | ||
| Adjusted profit before tax2 | 17.6 | 14.5 | 20.5 | ||
| Statutory profit before tax | 29.0 | 14.9 | 14.4 | ||
| Basic earnings per share3 | 37.44p | 17.65p | 15.16p | ||
| Adjusted earnings per share3 | 21.81p | 17.16p | 24.48p | ||
| Dividend per share | 7.41p | 6.63p | 17.75p | ||
| Net debt excluding lease liabilities4 | 128.2 | 129.4 | 133.1 | ||
1 Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment, and separately disclosed items.
2 Adjusted profit before tax is the profit before tax excluding separately disclosed items.
3 Per 40p ‘A’ or ‘C’ ordinary share. Basic EPS is calculated using earnings attributable to equity shareholders after tax including separately disclosed items. Adjusted EPS excludes separately disclosed items.
4 Net debt excluding lease liabilities comprises cash and short-term deposits, bank overdraft, bank loans, debenture stock and preference shares.
Financial and Operational Highlights
· Like for like sales for our Managed Pubs & Hotels in H1 up 5.2%, demonstrating continued market outperformance
· Adjusted profit before tax increased by 21% to £17.6 million (H1 2024: £14.5 million)
· Statutory profit before tax of £29.0 million (H1 2024: £14.9 million) – significant increase reflects book profit of £17.2 million arising from the disposal of The Mad Hatter hotel
· Net debt of £128.2 million (H1 2024: £129.4 million) with cash generated from the business, combined with strategic disposals, invested in enhancing the existing estate, acquiring Lovely Pubs and financing shareholder returns
· Interim dividend increased by 12% to 7.41p (H1 2024: 6.63p)
· Continued share buyback programme, with 1.2 million ‘A’ shares repurchased in the period. When complete, later this financial year, the buyback programme will have repurchased the 6.5 million ‘A’ shares that were issued in 2021 as part of an equity placing.
Strategic Highlights
· An excellent first half of the year with growth in all areas
o Food like for like sales increased by 5.5%
o Drink like for like sales increased by 4.9%
o Accommodation like for like sales increased by 4.9%
· Invested £10.0 million across the estate, including a transformational development at The Head of the River in Oxford
· Completed the sale of 37 non-core tenanted pubs to Admiral Taverns for £18.3 million, resulting in a more profitable and sustainable tenanted business with average EBITDA per site up 12%
· Completed the sale of The Mad Hatter for a total consideration of £20 million
· Acquired Lovely Pubs – seven stunning pubs in affluent Warwickshire villages for £22.5 million
· Continued significant investment in our bespoke leadership training programme, Lead Your Way, for our General Managers and support centre managers, with Head Chefs scheduled to start in the second half of the year
Current Trading
· Like for like sales for first 32 weeks of the year up 5.4%
· Exciting £20 million capex programme planned for H2
· Despite fresh challenges presented by the budget, we look forward to the future with optimism
Chief Executive Simon Emeny said:
“We have had a great start to the year – delivering on all five pillars of our strategy and ensuring that we succeed in our purpose, to create experiences that nourish the soul. In our Managed Pubs and Hotels, we have delivered like for like sales growth of 5.2% – ahead of the industry’s CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker on average by two percentage points – and our adjusted profit before tax has risen by 21%.
“Our estate is in amazing shape. The sale of 37 non-core tenanted pubs to Admiral Taverns for £18.3 million, followed by the acquisition of the Lovely Pubs business on a multiple of 7.25x EBITDA for £22.5 million, gives us 185 outstanding Managed Pubs and Hotels and 153 excellent Tenanted Inns. Without a shadow of doubt, our estate has never been in such good shape, and we continue to invest to maintain our quality, with £10 million of capital expenditure in the first half.
“We will be investing a further £20 million in our estate during the second half, including substantial schemes at The Drayton Court in West Ealing, The Chamberlain in the City and the Bel & The Dragon in Odiham. We also continue to look at appropriate opportunities to drive our long-term strategy of growing the estate.
“Following our strong first half results, we have continued to build on our momentum with like for like sales for the 32 week period rising by 5.4%. This sustained underlying performance, combined with the added benefit from our Lovely Pubs acquisition and encouraging Christmas bookings up 15%, provides us with confidence that we are on track to meet current market expectations for the financial year.
“In summary, everything that is in our control is going well. We have an outstanding, predominately freehold, well-invested estate, a driven and motivated team – who are supported by continuous development – and a clear, consistent strategy. We are in excellent shape, and despite the fresh challenges presented by the Chancellor’s recent budget, we remain positive and optimistic about the future.”
-Ends-