Marston’s reports like-for-likes up 3% in managed division: Marston’s has reported underlying group revenue was up 11.5% to £428.7 million in the 26 weeks to 2 April. Underlying profit before tax was up 11.8% to £33.1 million. Like-for-like sales grew 3% across managed and franchised pubs. Seven pubs and three lodges opened in the period with the first new-build Tavern successfully opened under franchise model. The average profit per pub up 13% in 2016, up 44% since 2012. It reported underlying operating profit growth of 16% driven by Thwaites acquisition and its strong brand portfolio continues to outperform market with volumes up 22%. Market share was up 1.5% in premium cask ale and 1.1% in bottled ale. Chief executive Ralph Findlay said: “We are encouraged by our first half performance and are on track to meet our expectations for the year. In pubs, we have driven our growth by the organic development of pub-restaurants and franchise-style pubs, and more recently through investment in lodges and premium bars, widening our appeal. In brewing, we had an excellent first half year and achieved good growth through our industry-leading brands and service.” The company added:

New pub-restaurants: “In our Destination business, we have opened over 130 pub-restaurants since 2009, offering family dining at reasonable prices. These pubs generate high turnover, with target sales of £25,000 per week and a food sales mix in excess of 60%. We have an experienced site acquisition team, and a well-established site selection process and strong relationships with the major property developers. This expansionary investment has generated consistent returns and enabled us to extend our trading geography to include southern England and Scotland. New pub investment creates significant value for shareholders, as demonstrated in the 2015 pub estate valuation. This year we have opened seven new-build pub-restaurants in the first half year, and are targeting at least 20 for the full year and each year thereafter. Competition and differentiation are key considerations. We operate in a market with significant investment in casual dining, fast food and restaurants, therefore our pub-restaurant investment is targeted in areas that are less exposed to intense competition, particularly outside London and city centres. We benefit from the broad appeal of the “pub” brand which occupies a unique position in the market and has demonstrated longevity.”

New lodges: “Investment in new-build lodges adjacent to pubs has been increased in 2016. Having opened three in 2015, we will open at least five in 2016, with three open in the first half year. Looking forward, we expect accommodation to be increasingly important to our investment plans, and we are acquiring sites for development in 2017 and thereafter. The combination of pub-restaurant with an adjacent lodge is attractive in the context of increasing business and leisure travel.”

New Premium pubs: “In recent years we have invested in, and developed our skills and expertise in, our Premium pub business, comprising Pitcher & Piano and Revere. In 2016 we have converted one pub from the existing estate to our Revere format, with a further two sites acquired for development and opening in the second half year”.

Development of the franchise model: “We pioneered the introduction of franchise-style agreements in the pub sector. We believe that the franchise operating model in community pubs creates the best experience for our customers and is the most flexible and attractive model for licensees. It is our intention to convert most of our pubs in the Taverns business to this model over time. We have also been successful in expanding franchise-style agreements into higher turnover pubs. This year some of our most successful franchisees have generated turnover levels similar to those in the Destination estate, with weekly sales exceeding £30,000 per week over the Christmas period. Furthermore, we have opened our first new-build Tavern operating under the franchise operating model, with early trading in line with expectations. We are also evaluating the potential for franchise-style agreements in the Destination estate and anticipate trialling this in the next two years.”

Patisserie Holdings reports Ebitda up 21.3% to £10.6m: Patisserie Holdings has reported group revenue of £50.0m up by 14.4% (2015: £43.7m) in the six months ended 31 March. Gross profit of £39.2m was up by 16.1% (2015: £33.7m.) Ebitda of £10.6m was up by 21.3% (2015: £8.7m). It reported ‘significant growth’ in pre-tax profit to £8.4m up by 20.6% (2015: £7.0m). The Group has maintained its strong balance sheet position with net cash at 31 March 2016 of £8.9m (2015: £3.0m). 12 new stores opened in the period all funded from operating cash flow in line with the Group’s strategic plan. It was trading from 177 stores at the period end Luke Johnson, executive chairman, said: “I am delighted to announce an excellent set of results for the six months to March 2016. The Group has continued to deliver strong growth in sales and profit in what is a competitive trading environment. We opened 12 new stores in the period all of which are performing well. Our pipeline for new stores is well developed and I look forward to another period of strong growth in the second half of the year.” Chief executive Paul May added: “The performance of the Group’s brands, during the first six months of the year, was good. Patisserie Valerie, our largest platform, delivered revenues of £35.0m from 126 stores, an increase of £6.1m or 21.1% (2015: £28.9m from 106 stores). Revenue from our retail brands, Druckers and Baker & Spice is £9.1m, an increase of £0.4m (2015: £8.7m) and revenue from Flour Power City, our wholesale bakery, is £1.8m (2015: £1.6m). Revenue from Philpotts, our premium sandwich retailer is £4.9m in the period, a decrease of £0.1m (2015: £5.0m) which is partly due to an earlier Easter period and partly due to a focus on higher margin corporate sales. In the period we have experienced a number of known cost pressures and in the second half of the year we will also feel the pressure of the National Living Wage. We have worked hard in the period to mitigate these cost pressures and through efficiencies and savings particularly in our supply chain, we have been able to improve our gross profit margin by 1.0% which means that our overall cost base will remain stable to the year end. We are continually working on new product development and launched our Glorious Gluten Free range in January following high customer demand. The gluten free range is the first step in expanding our offering to meet our customer’s dietary requirements. In the period we opened twelve new stores funded from operating cash flow including two designer outlets, one motorway service station, two brasseries, two shopping centres, one new store in Scotland, three concession stores in Debenhams and our first new Baker & Spice store. We strategically opened a number of stores in locations where we did not have a previous presence, such as Preston, Durham, Cheshire Oaks and Bradford. These locations have lower rentals than more traditional larger city locations and with good sales these stores are exceeding management’s expectations. The pleasing performance provides a good indicator of the demand for the growing Patisserie Valerie brand. Baker & Spice is our premium brand which was acquired in 2009 and operates in exclusive areas of Central London. In March we opened our first store under this brand in Brighton. The pipeline for the second half of the year is healthy and includes a number of carefully selected new geographical areas including our first store in Northern Ireland, an additional motorway service station and a factory outlet.”

SSP reports sales up 5.9% to £897m: SSP Group, the operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, ha reported operating profit up 28% at constant currency rates in the six months ended 31 March 2016. Like-for-like sales were up 3.3%, driven by growth in air passenger travel and retailing initiatives Revenue of £897m was up 5.9% at constant currency and 4.4% at actual exchange rates. Operating margin was up 50 basis points to 3.4%, with strategic initiatives delivering further improvements Kate Swann, chief executive of SSP Group, said: “SSP has made further good progress in the first half of 2016 and we continue to deliver our strategic initiatives. Constant currency operating profit was up 28% driven by good like-for-like sales growth in our existing business, new contract openings, which are building our presence across the world, and further operational improvements. I am particularly encouraged by the pace of development in our North America and Asia Pacific operations. Looking forward, the second half has started in line with our expectations. Whilst a degree of uncertainty always exists around passenger numbers in the short term, we are well placed to benefit from the structural growth opportunities in our markets and to create further shareholder value.”

SAB Miller reports strong underlying growth: SAB Miller has reported strong underlying growth in the year to 31 March with Ebita up 8% and group volumes up by 2%. It stated: “In the United Kingdom, group net producer revenue grew by 5% on an organic, constant currency basis. Beverage volumes were up by 3% on an organic basis with favourable brand mix resulting from the continued growth of Peroni Nastro Azzurro which offset the planned volume decline in both Miller Genuine Draft and the Polish brand portfolio. In June, we acquired the modern craft brewer Meantime Brewing Company Ltd which delivered double digit volume growth.” Gary Haigh, managing director of Miller Brands UK, said: “Over the last ten years, we have been changing the way people think about beer. As we progress from world beer into a new era of high growth super-premium beer, we are immensely proud that Peroni Nastro Azzurro continues to spearhead this change. Progress in Ireland has been equally impressive with 22% growth this year, making Ireland the fourth largest Peroni Nastro Azzurro market in the world. The growth of Pilsner Urquell Tank Beer has been outstanding too, with acclaimed restaurateurs and premium pub owners wanting to centre new openings on its authentic, unpasteurised and fresh appeal. Since the launch of the inaugural Tank Beer in 2013, we’ve seen over half a million pints of Tank Beer sold. We have already seen the growth of super-premium spirits and now beer is heading in the same direction as consumers seek genuine, authentic taste and a story behind their beer.” Alan Clark, chief executive of SAB Miller, said: “These are good results. We grew Ebita across all regions and our group Ebita margin improved through the year, on an underlying basis. This performance reflects our focus on driving superior growth by strengthening our core brands, expanding the beer category to reach more consumers on more occasions and placing an emphasis on premiumisation in all regions. As noted through the year, the strengthening dollar against our operating currencies had a material negative impact on reported results. Our affordability and premiumisation initiatives have allowed us to capture growth in developing markets and key trends in developed markets. Our subsidiaries achieved volume and NPR growth of 5% and 8% respectively, with a particularly good performance in a number of key markets. Premium lager brands’ NPR grew by 11%, while global lager brands’ NPR grew by 13%, with growth across all regions. Our growth accelerated in the year, driven by improving momentum in Latin America, continued strong and well-balanced momentum in Africa and improvements in Australia and Europe in the second half. In creating a more integrated global business we have been able to cut costs and free up in-market resources to deliver on our strategic objectives. We continue to focus on improving our in-country performance in a cost efficient manner, supported by our global cost and efficiency programme which is ahead of schedule and delivered cumulative net annualised savings of $547 million by the year end. The programme is on track to achieve our 2020 target of $1,050 million. These initiatives mitigated adverse transactional currency headwinds. We are expanding our exposure to growing markets and building the optimum portfolio of lager, soft drinks and other alcoholic beverages to capture growth. Soft drinks volumes grew by 6%. On 10 May 2016, the South African Competition Tribunal approved, with agreed conditions, the formation of Africa’s largest soft drinks beverage operation, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA). We expect the transaction to complete as soon as practicable. Achieving these results this year, notwithstanding economic and currency volatility and the distraction of the AB InBev offer, is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our people.”