Mitchells & Butlers, the UK’s largest listed pub group, has returned to profit since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions but warned that rising utility and labour costs would hamper its recovery.
The pub company, which owns Harvester and All Bar One, said sales in the eight weeks since the end of September had been 2.7 per cent above the same period in 2019 on a like-for-like basis. In the final quarter of its financial year, trading was 3.8 per cent ahead of 2019, boosted by high food sales even as drinks remained about 10 per cent behind.
Covid-19 restrictions, which limited pubs at different times to table-only service, reduced group sizes, or forced them to close, pushed the company to a pre-tax loss of £42m in the year to the end of September. In the previous year, losses amounted to £123m.
Revenues, however, fell almost 30 per cent to £1.1bn due to the lockdowns, which were in place for a longer period in the 2021 financial year than in 2020.
Phil Urban, chief executive, said: “Despite the inevitable challenges faced by our business over the past year, we are now well positioned to regain the momentum.”
But he warned that the “trading environment remains challenging and cost headwinds continue to put pressure on the sector”.
M&B noted in particular that it faced particularly steep utility and employment costs as the sector battles acute staff shortages.
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