Fuller’s managed like-for-like sales for 12 weeks to 3 July 2021 at 76% of 2019 levels: Fuller’s reported its managed like-for-like sales for 12 weeks to 3 July 2021 were at 76% of 2019 levels. Reporting results for the year to 27 March 2021, the company said group revenue and other income fell by 77%, signifying the detrimental impact the enforced closure of its business unsurprisingly had on the results. On average its pubs were only open to trade for 29% of the days within the FY21 financial year and even while open they were trading under severe restrictions. The significant decline in revenue, which fell from £319.7m the prior year to £73.4m, while adjusted loss before tax stood at £48.7m (FY20: profit of £19.4m) and statutory loss before tax was £57.8m (FY20: profit £8.4m). The company said that in periods where it had been able to trade, albeit with restrictions, trading has been encouraging with positive cash generation and like-for-like sales in its managed pubs and hotels at 80% of 2019 levels during the period 4 July 2020 to 5 September 2020. Fulller’s said it had 100% occupancy in our tenanted estate, with full commercial rent reintroduced on 26 June 2021. The company said it had completed a £52m equity issue in April 2021 to strengthen its balance sheet and ensure the company exits the pandemic in the best possible position. It said even with all the cost saving measures it had put in place during the year and the assistance received from the government, cash burn was about £4m to £5m per month. On 7 June 2020, the group sold The Stable business to Three Joes for an enterprise value of £0.5m, which resulted in a loss on disposal of £0.9m. As part of the transaction, Fuller’s retained ownership of the five freehold properties associated with The Stable business. Overall net debt at 27 March 2021 has increased by £39.2m to £218.1m excluding leases, due to the enforced closure of the business for a substantial part of the financial year. Including leases, net debt has increased by £16.2m to £308.0m, reflecting a reduction in lease liabilities of £23.0m driven by the sale of The Stable (£10.5m) and a number of rent concessions received in the year that were treated as lease modifications (£10.0m). At 27 March 2021, the group had £319.5m of available facilities, of which £292m was to mature within the next 12 months. Its undrawn committed facilities at 27 March 2021 were £84.0m, with a further £17.1m of cash held on its balance sheet. Since the year end, a Covid Corporate Financing Facility was repaid in May 2021 and the group agreed an amend and extend refinancing of its existing debt facilities with its relationship banks, extending the maturity of £192m of debt facilities to 19 February 2023 and amending the financial covenants to a minimum liquidity level to 31 March 2022. The company said that during the year it had continued investment in its predominantly freehold estate during periods of enforced closure to ensure “we reopened in excellent condition”, including ten transformational refurbishment schemes and one new opening – The White Horse, Wembley; completed the integration of Cotswold Inns & Hotels, which has delivered immediate benefits; successfully rolled out digital solutions such as order and pay and enhanced central booking system, improving the digital customer journey; and streamlined teams both at house level and in our support centre ready to deliver future growth. Chief executive Simon Emeny said: “The end of restrictions is now just 11 days away and our pubs and hotels are perfectly placed to benefit from growing consumer confidence and the return of normal life. Pubs are social spaces that thrive on spontaneity – a quick pint, staying for a bit longer to chat to someone at the bar or just walking past a beautiful pub garden and deciding to stop for a bite to eat without pre-booking a table. I know that, across our estate, our teams are excited to see those behaviours return. The boom in staycations and desire to get back out with friends has led to strong trading in parts of our estate – particularly Cotswold Inns & Hotels and our rural pubs with rooms – and there is an incredibly busy season to come with numerous weddings and a high level of advance bookings. With our entire estate open, like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to 3 July 2021 are running at 76% of 2019 levels, cash generation is strong and our net debt levels are below where they were pre-pandemic. The importance of our perfectly balanced estate has come into play with different parts of the business showing different recovery trajectories and we are very comfortable with the company’s current position. We have a clear set of priorities for the next 12 months. We will continue to deliver our strategic goals, invest in our estate, and implement our new central finance system. Other projects, such as our employer brand and further work around our digital customer journey, will be progressed and we will, as ever, keep a watching brief on appropriate opportunities in the market. In the short term, we will continue to address challenges around recruitment and supply chain, which are having an impact right across the hospitality sector. The elements that combine to make Fuller’s such an amazing company have been reiterated many times before and are always worth repeating. The foundations are our iconic, predominantly freehold, well-invested estate of stunning pubs and hotels, which are geographically southern based and cover city, town, village and rural locations. At our heart are the amazing team members and entrepreneurial Tenants that make up the Fuller’s family and we are driven by a clear, consistent, long-term strategy. Combined with our strong Balance Sheet, a cash generative business and the fact that the enduring appeal of the high-quality British pub has never been stronger, we look to the future with confidence.”

‘Most successful’ BII Licensees of the Year to feature in updated Blue Book for Propel Premium subscribers as Chilled Pubs among 62 companies being added: Richard and Loren Pope can lay claim to being the most successful BII Licenses of the Year ever – they won in May 2010 – as their Chilled Pubs business is one of the 62 companies being added to the updated Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which will be published for Premium subscribers at midday tomorrow (Friday, 9 July). The couple opened the Bull’s Head in Repton, originally, but now the company turns over £11.1m. The majority of that revenue has come from just four pubs – although the couple have since added a fifth site – meaning the sites have been turning over about £50,000 a week. The second edition will feature a total of 280 companies and will provide an overview of the most recent five years, ranking them by turnover and profit conversion. It will also show directors’ earnings over five years and the top-earning director. Total turnover for the 280 companies is £25.8bn. The minimum company turnover to be included will be £4m. The Blue Book is updated each month, with more companies added. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The regular single subscription rate of £395 plus VAT for operators and £495 plus VAT for suppliers remains the same. Premium subscribers also receive access to a second exclusive monthly database, The Propel Multi-Site Database. The updated database of multi-site companies for June includes 63 new companies since its previous update in May – making a total of 1,880 listed businesses. Collectively, the 63 new companies operate 565 venues. Subscribers not only received the database as a PDF and an Excel spreadsheet, they were also sent a 10,389-word report on the businesses added during June. Subscribers also receive access to Propel’s library of lockdown videos and Friday Wrap interviews and now also have access to a curated video library of the sector’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs, offering their insights on running outstanding businesses in the sector. Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before our 6am send-out; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel insights editor Mark Wingett. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to sign up.

Deliveroo reports trading ahead of expectations as UK and Ireland orders increase 94% year-on-year in second quarter: Deliveroo has reported it is trading ahead of expectations as orders grew 88% year-on-year at group level to 78 million in the second quarter of 2021. In the same period orders in the UK and Ireland grew 94% year-on-year to 38 million and orders in the group’s international segment grew 83% year-on-year to 40 million. The company stated: “Gross transaction value (GTV) has grown 76% year-on-year at the group level in the second quarter of 2021 to £1,739m (81% growth in constant currency). In the same period GTV in the UK and Ireland has grown 87% year-on-year to £921m (88% growth in constant currency) and GTV in the group’s international segment has grown 65% year-on-year to £818m (75% growth in constant currency). Deliveroo has seen continued strong growth and consumer engagement in the first half, and as a result of that plus increased expectations for the second half is increasing the guidance for full year annual GTV growth from between 30% to 40% to between 50% to 60%. Deliveroo sees an opportunity to make further discretionary investments into growth opportunities in the second half, and as a result of accelerating these investments in the second half, along with an expectation that average order value reverts towards pre-covid levels, we are confirming our full-year gross profit margin guidance (as a percentage of GTV) and expect it to be in the lower half of our previously communicated range. Deliveroo will be reporting its first-half 2021 results on 11 August.”

KFC UK & Ireland targets net-zero by 2040: KFC UK & Ireland has announced a new commitment to reach net-zero ten years ahead of the legal deadline of 2050. The company’s new target forms part of an updated climate action strategy after parent company Yum Brands! set a 1.5C-aligned science-based target to reduce absolute direct emissions by 46% by 2030, against a 2019 baseline. As a first step towards reaching net-zero, KFC UK & Ireland will pilot its first net-zero restaurant as part of a collaborative initiative with the University of Liverpool’s Zero Carbon Research Institute. The initiative will assess the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the construction materials and processes currently being used to build new restaurants and refurbish existing locations, before exploring lower-carbon alternatives that will reduce embodied carbon. The net-zero restaurant will provide a case study of how other locations can procure renewable energy, improve energy efficiency and implement low-carbon technologies. Residual emissions from the pilot location will be addressed using carbon offsetting and removal. KFC said it will only use “credible” offsetting schemes as a “supportive mechanism”, with a “primary focus on carbon reduction”. As for removal, the business has stated it is open to using man-made and/or nature-based solutions as it works to make all restaurants net-zero. Aside from the University of Liverpool, KFC UK & Ireland is collaborating with more than a dozen other operators through the Zero Carbon Forum, which was set up late last year to develop a pathway to net-zero for the UK’s hospitality sector. It has also signed up to the British Retail Consortium’s new climate action roadmap, designed to transition the sector to net-zero by 2040. KFC UK & Ireland managing director Paula MacKenzie said: “It’s incumbent on us all to address the climate emergency and combat the long and short-term effects of global warming on the environment and on people. Anything short of that will lead to failure, and I passionately believe we cannot address the urgent action that’s needed in the world today without businesses pulling their weight and playing their part.”