The cost of living crisis and no major international football tournament being staged in 2023 led to profit being slashed in half at pub giant Greene King, it has been revealed.
The Suffolk-headquartered group, which operates around 2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, has posted a pre-tax profit of £45.2m for 2023, down from £98.4m in 2022.
Greene King said the rise in inflation and “global macroeconomic headwinds” of 2022 continued into its latest financial year which resulted in “increased cost pressures” and also impacted consumer confidence.
The group said that the issues remained a concern throughout the year and was “exacerbated” by some periods of poor and variable weather, particularly over the usually busy summer months and school holidays.
Greene King added that the lack of a major international football tournament in 2023 hit its finances while trade was “further frustrated by significant industrial action on the railways at various points in the year”.
However, Greene King’s revenue did increase from £2.1bn to £2.3m in 2023 thanks to an extra bank holiday in May to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III and a “particularly successful” festive period.
“Cost of doing business” eats into Greene King profits
Chief executive Nick Mackenzie said: “We are building a stronger more sustainable Greene King that is fit for the future, and during 2023 we drove that business transformation through our industry-leading investment programme.
“There is evidence that this is delivering, as we achieved a robust financial performance alongside significant strategic progress.
“This was despite the prevailing macroeconomic challenges that influenced much of the year, and whilst we delivered an improved revenue performance reaching above pre-Covid 19 levels, our profitability was impacted by the heightened cost of doing business.
“This is an ambitious business investing for the long term to build a balanced portfolio, innovating across new concepts, digitisation and the evolution of existing brands.
“But, at our core, we are about delighting our customers, and this wouldn’t be possible without our 40,000 team members, and our pub partners, all of whom help us play a meaningful role in the communities in which we continue to serve.
“While we expect the tough backdrop to continue in 2024, our team is confident and excited about the future of this business and industry in which we operate.”
During the year the average number of people employed by Greene King increased from 40,033 to 40,551.
Greene King said it invested £150m into its pub estate during the year.