YOUNG & CO.’S BREWERY, P.L.C.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE 53 WEEKS ENDED 3 APRIL 2023
A STRONG PERFORMANCE AND WELL POSITIONED FOR FUTURE GROWTH
Financial Highlights
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | |||||||
| 53 weeks | 52 weeks | ||||||||
| £m | £m | % | |||||||
| Revenue | 368.9 | 309.0 | +19.4 | ||||||
| Adjusted operating profit(1) | 52.4 | 51.4 | +1.9 | ||||||
| Adjusted profit before tax(1) | 45.2 | 41.8 | +8.1 | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA(1) | 85.5 | 82.5 | +3.6 | ||||||
| Net debt | 165.2 | 173.8 | -4.9 | ||||||
| Net debt to adjusted EBITDA | 1.9x | 2.1x | +0.2x | ||||||
| Operating profit | 43.4 | 51.7 | -16.1 | ||||||
| Profit before tax | 36.2 | 42.1 | -14.0 | ||||||
| Net assets | 724.2 | 699.7 | +3.5 | ||||||
| Net cash generated from operations | 83.8 | 107.0 | -21.7 | ||||||
| Adjusted basic earnings per share(1) | 64.29p | 56.26p | +14.3 | ||||||
| Basic earnings per share | 50.78p | 58.83p | -13.7 | ||||||
| Dividend per share | 20.52p | 18.81p | +9.1 | ||||||
| (interim and recommended final) | |||||||||
| Net assets per share(2) | £12.38 | £11.97 | +3.4 | ||||||
| All of the results above are from continuing operations. | |||||||||
| (1) Reference to an “adjusted” item means that item has been adjusted to exclude a non-underlying cost of £9.0 million (2022: non-underlying credit of £0.3 million). The main adjusting item relates to a £7.0 million impairment on property valuations. The total value of the estate increased by £8.2 million, with an increase of £15.2 million taken through revaluation reserves and an impairment of £7.0 million through the income statement (see note 3 for adjusting items and note 9 for earnings per share).(2) Net assets per share are the group’s net assets divided by the shares in issue at the period end. | |||||||||
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
· Total revenue for the period was £368.9 million, up 19.4% against the prior year. Managed pub like-for-like revenue up by 12.9% on a 52-week basis.
· Despite facing considerable cost headwinds and prior year covid one-offs, which included the reduced VAT rate (£12.3 million) and business rates relief (£6.0 million), adjusted profit before tax was up 8.1% to £45.2 million, and adjusted operating profit up 1.9% to £52.4 million.
· Our strong financial position, driven by healthy operating free cashflow has enabled us to continue to invest significantly, with total investment of £58.4 million, £24.0 million on acquisition investment, including six new pubs and £34.4 million across pubs in our existing estate.
· Net debt (including lease liabilities) has reduced by £8.6 million to £165.2 million and, with our adjusted EBITDA of £85.5 million, net debt to EBITDA is conservative at 1.9 times. Including cash balances this leaves us with £110.7 million of headroom on our committed bank facilities for future flexibility and ongoing investment.
· We are pleased to recommend a final dividend of 10.26 pence, resulting in a total dividend for the year of 20.52 pence, up by 9.1%.
· Sales since the period end performed well, managed pub like-for-like sales for the last seven weeks up by 4.8%.
Simon Dodd, Chief Executive of Young’s, commented:
“I am honoured and privileged to lead such a great company with its wonderful heritage. Young’s is a business that places investment in its people and pubs at the heart of its decision making. These results are testament to the hard work of our teams over the past few years.”
“The positive trading momentum of the first half continued throughout the period, with unwavering customer demand for our outstanding pubs and the unrivalled Young’s experience. The negative impact of the rail strikes did not stand in the way of us achieving numerous record weeks, as sales were boosted by glorious summer sunshine and the first ever winter FIFA World Cup.”
“We were pleased to see a further increase in people visiting our City and Central London pubs alongside positive Christmas trading. Our performance last year was even more impressive given the cost headwinds facing the industry and we are encouraged that some of these pressures are starting to ease.”
“It’s been a good start to the new financial year with sunny weather over Easter and the early May bank holiday. There is also huge excitement for the Rugby World Cup later this year. We are confident our premium, well-invested predominantly freehold pub estate, alongside our healthy balance sheet, will continue to deliver superior returns for our shareholders.”