Mitchells & Butlers profit rises as transformation bears fruit

All Bar One and Harvester owner Mitchells & Butlers posted a rise in full-year pre-tax profit on Wednesday as its transformation programme bears fruit.

In the year to 28 September, pre-tax profit rose 36.2% to £177m on revenue of £2.2bn, up 3.9% on the previous year.

Like-for-like sales grew 3.5%, with food sales up 3.4% and drink sales 3.2% higher. Average spend per item on food rose 3.4%, while average drink item spend was up 4.5%.

The company said that while the industry continues to face challenges such as rising costs, consumers are increasingly seeking higher quality food when eating out, with a focus on superior ingredients and sourcing.

"These factors have resulted in the continuing trend of increased spend per visit and a number of brands have premiumised their food offers and amenity in response to this changing consumer behaviour," it said.

Chief executive Phil Urban said: "These strong results reflect the work we have done over the last few years, first to build sustained sales growth and then to convert that into profit growth.

"It has been extremely encouraging to see an improvement in like-for-like sales growth across the portfolio during the year, fuelled by our Ignite programme of work. This puts us in a stronger position as we move forward into the next financial year, in what we expect to remain challenging market conditions."