Greene King posts record retail revenue but full-year pre-tax profit drops

Pub group Greene King reported record retail revenue in its full-year results, although profit fell on the back of lower like-for-like sales and the impact of the disposal of 275 pubs to Hawthorn Leisure.

Retail revenue for the 52 weeks to 3 May 2015 came in at £1bn, up from £963m last year, while total group revenue came in at £1.32bn from £1.3bn in 2014.

Although overall pre-tax profit fell to £168.5m from £173.1m, this was a little better than analysts had expected.

The board has recommended a final dividend of 21.8p per share, up 4.8% on last year, taking the total dividend for the year to 29.75p. The final dividend is expected to be paid on 14 September.

Chief executive officer Rooney Anand said: “Greene King has delivered another record year in a challenging trading environment. We have delivered good underlying growth across all parts of the business with Retail generating revenue of over £1bn for the first time.

"Underlying earnings growth of over 9% has enabled a dividend increase of 4.8%, reflecting our confidence in the strength of the business and its prospects for future growth.”

Anand said the company has completed a successful five-year strategic plan, surpassing its goals as it delivered significant progress, changed the business mix and better positioned the group for the future.

“We now enter another exciting new phase in the company's history, with the acquisition of Spirit. We warmly welcome Spirit's employees and its shareholders to Greene King. The acquisition will further strengthen our platform to deliver sustainable, long-term success for the benefit of our customers, our employees and our shareholders," the CEO concluded.