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Fri 5th Sep 2025 - Adnams – ‘we’ve made good progress with debt reduction on target and some successes in turnaround plan’ |
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Adnams – ‘we’ve made good progress in implementing simplified strategy with debt reduction on target and some successes in turnaround plan’: Suffolk brewer and retailer Adnams has said the business has made “good progress” in implementing its simplified strategy in the first half of 2025 with debt reduction on target and was “seeing some successes” in the turnaround plan. In its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2025, interim chair Simon Townsend said: “At the half year, our debt had reduced considerably to £11.7m, down from £18.2m at the same time last year and by the end of September will have reduced further to circa £8m. This has been achieved through the disposal of a number of non-trading assets, alongside a small number of trading sites sold, enabling us to limit the impact on trading revenue where possible. Wherever circumstances permitted, long term trading arrangements were made with the acquirers of trading sites, so our products remain on the bar. Our pub trading estate will comprise 28 sites, 19 of which are run as independent businesses by our tenants and the other nine are operated directly by us as managed properties. We expect to conclude our strategic asset disposal programme imminently, with debt now at a more sustainable level for the business. Performance at an operating income level, before gains on disposals, was flat year on year at £1.5m. This arises through the mitigation of lost income from disposal sites with cost reductions across the business, while we accelerate the implementation of sales initiatives designed to grow our top line.” Revenue for the period was down 5.7% to £30,080,000 from £31,908,000 the previous year with performance in the on and off-trade markets across the sector remaining in decline. However, Adnams said its trading in the off-trade bucked the trend, performing 2% better than the market. Pre-tax losses narrowed to £1,465,000 from £2,554,000 the year before. The company incurred exceptional costs of £1.2m, predominantly comprising a charge in relation to the extended producer responsibility scheme. Operating costs fell 5.4% to £31.6m, “essential as we transition from pressured revenues into balanced growth”. Managed revenue grew 4% on 2024 with growing occupancy in hotel sites and more food and beverage sales. Revenue increased 5.8% on a like-for-like basis. All months saw an uplift on the previous year, with the exception of March due to the timing of where Easter fell. Adnams said as expected, tied revenue was down due to the reducing size of the estate. However, like-for-like performance in the remaining estate improved on the prior year. The retail business including online operations “remains in line with the prior year”. Townsend said its direct on-trade business, which trades with independent publicans, “remained stable against a very challenging back drop where many free-trade pubs are struggling to stay in business”. The national business, which sells into pub companies and wholesalers, had a “very challenging start to the year”, with an 18% reduction on 2024, “albeit we have managed to substantially stem the rate of decline recently”. Sales into supermarkets “fell slightly”. Townsend said: “We have much work to do as we implement our sales and marketing plans to enable the business to grow again into areas of opportunity. With the benefit of a stable balance sheet and substantially lower debt, and by driving a much greater degree of commerciality across the business, we can look to the future with confidence.”
Premium Club subscribers to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database today: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club subscribers today (Friday, 5 September), at 12pm. The database will show the details of 174 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. The database will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis and Premium Club subscribers will also receive a 11,126-word report on the 174 new additions to the database. It is segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars and quick service restaurants (QSR) – making it even easier for users to search. The database includes new openings in the QSR sector such as Burger Drop opening in Middlesbrough, German Doner Kebab set to open at Brent Cross shopping centre in north London, and fast chicken brand ChicKing opening in Edinburgh. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events and discounts on specialist sector reports. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club subscribers also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.
Vale of Glamorgan Council to be first in Wales to ban unhealthy food adverts in certain public spaces: A council in South Wales will go ahead with its plan to ban unhealthy food adverts in certain public spaces. Vale of Glamorgan Council will become the first local authority in Wales to implement the ban. It will also stop unhealthy foods from being marketed on the council's website. Council leader Lis Burnett denied the local authority was telling people what to do through the ban. “We are just not going to put pictures of it everywhere,” she told the BBC. In March, the Senedd approved new regulations for restrictions placed on where retailers can display certain unhealthy foods in their shops and on their websites. The new regulations, which will come into force in March 2026, will also affect foods which are high in sugar, fat and salt. Vale of Glamorgan councillor Rhiannon Birch said many people were not aware of the unhealthy content of the food they were eating. “We want to see that those people are better informed, better able to make choices and are not having these adverts thrown at them all the time,” she added. The rules were proposed in a consultation last year and mirror those introduced in England in 2022.
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