Excluding the snow impact, LFL sales would have been up 3.4%. We achieved another record breaking Christmas Day in Pub Company with sales of £7.6m, up 2.6% on last year, and 154k meals sold.
Either side of the two Christmas weeks sales were slower, reflecting the tough underlying trading environment and additional snow impact.
Pub Company LFL sales for the first 37 weeks of the year were -1.4%. Drink and room LFL sales were ahead of last year while food LFL sales remained behind last year.
Pub Partners LFL net profit for the first 36 weeks of the year was up 0.2% while Brewing & Brands own-brewed volume was -0.9% for the first 37 weeks, against a weak ale market down 3.0%*.
We remain on track to deliver targeted cost savings of £40-45m this year and our brand optimisation programme continues to deliver attractive returns of 25%. Both our new build and disposal programmes are also on track with six new sites opened and 40 disposals completed in the year-to-date.
Our additional investment to enhance the customer experience, including being more competitive on price, having more team members available at key trading times and strengthening local marketing activity, will help to improve our competitiveness and relative trading performance.
Greene King has industry-leading brands, a strong and flexible balance sheet, and a sustainable dividend, leaving us well placed given the challenging market conditions.