Shepherd Neame upbeat as trading beats expectations
Shepherd Neame said business since the end of lockdown had beaten expectations and that it was increasingly confident as it prepares to reopen the rest of its pubs.
Reporting first-half figures, the brewer and pub landlord said trading at more than 200 pub gardens since 12 April was "most encouraging" and hat it was ready to open all its 316 premises on 17 May when pubs when drinking will be allowed inside pubs.
Chief Executive Jonathan Neame said: "We look forward to reopening the rest of our pubs in May with increasing confidence. There is significant pent-up demand in the economy and the desire to go out for a drink or a meal is as strong as ever. Initial trade has been most encouraging. Although it is early days, trade levels so far have been above expectation."
The company swung to a £7.2m pretax loss in the six months to the end of December from a £5.4m profit a year earlier as revenue slumped to £55.3m from £79m. The period included strong summer trading in the summer of 2020 after the first Covid-19 lockdown ended, followed by shifting restrictions and then a government order to shut again in November.
Pubs have been hit hard by Covid-19 measures that have varied wildly and forced them to close for much of the past year. Along with retailers and other customer-facing businesses, pubs are hoping consumers will splurge some of the money they conserved during lockdowns to take the strain off their finances.
Shepherd Neame, whose pubs are in Kent and south east England, said net debt at the end of March was £96.5m giving the company £36m of headroom and "ample liquidity" for the foreseeable future.