Restaurant, pub, and bar operator Mitchells & Butlers, which owns the Toby Carvery and All Bar One brands, has reported rising sales in a slowly recovering industry.
Like-for-like sales at the no-frills pub chain grew by 5.2 per cent during the 51 weeks to 21 September, driven by growth of 7.7 per cent in the first quarter.
Total sales growth in the fourth quarter was 2.5 per cent, which Mitchells attributed to the unseasonally cool summer and the disruption caused by August’s riots.
The company, which owns chains including All Bar One, Harvester and Toby Carvery, said that cost headwinds will fall to £55m this year.
It said increases in labour costs will be “substantially mitigated” by lower energy costs, slower food cost inflation, and cost controls.
The company said it had continued to invest in its portfolio over the past year and has completed 185 conversions and remodels. It has also opened six new sites in addition to the “continued rollout of a number of initiatives to reduce energy usage, such as solar panels and sensors.”
Phil Urban, chief executive, said: “Sales growth has continued to normalise as inflationary cost pressures ease whilst our diverse portfolio of established brands and advantaged estate locations underpin our outperformance against the market.
“We enter the new financial year armed with a fresh wave of initiatives under our Ignite programme and a full capital investment programme planned to deliver cost efficiencies, increased sales and to further drive market out-performance and increasing profitability.”
The company’s share price has risen by 32.34 per cent in the past six months.