Greene King Q1 beer sales fall ahead of £2.7bn takeover

Pub owner and brewer Greene King saw beer sales plunge in the first quarter ahead of its £2.7bn takeover by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing.

Group like-for-like sales at the Old Speckled Hen brewer fell 1.8% for the 18 weeks to September 1, against a strong comparative last year which was boosted by the men's football world cup and a hot summer.

Comparable sales at its pubs company rose 1.5% over the last seven weeks.

Like-for-like net income at its Pub Partners unit was down 4.2% for the first 16 weeks of the financial year, while total beer volumes were down 6.5% for the first 18 weeks at Brewing & Brands.

The company said it was on track with a cost reduction programme and expects to limit net inflation to between £10m - £20m.

“We remain on track with our disposal programme and expect to dispose of 85-95 pubs this year, generating disposal proceeds of £45-55m from which we will fund the opening of eight new pubs,” the company said.

Greene King is the UK’s biggest pub owner, with 2,730 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the country.

Investors will vote on the takeover bid at the company's annual meeting on Friday.