- Strong festive trading
- Like-for-like sales up 11.6%
- Confident outlook statement
Premium pubs and rooms operator Young & Co (YNGA:AIM) said it traded ‘exceptionally well’ over the Christmas and New Year period with like-for-like sales for the five weeks to 13 January up 11.6%.
Total managed sales ticked up 30.4% reflecting a contribution from City Pubs, which was acquired in March 2024.
Investors were seemingly in good spirits, bidding the shares up 4% to 860p in early trading.
The larger hospitality groups appear to have had a good festive season with Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) and Fuller, Turner & Smith (FSTA) revealing double-digit like-for-like sales growth on Wednesday (15 Jan).
Despite a strong recovery in sales seen across pub groups since the pandemic, profitability has yet to fully recover, reflecting increased costs which explains why share prices languish between 35% and 65% below pre-pandemic levels.
WHAT DID THE COMPANY SAY?
CEO Simon Dodd commented: ‘We are very pleased with our excellent trading over the festive period, which reflects the rigorous planning, commitment, and enthusiasm of our teams across the business.
‘We continued to break sales records across the period, delivering some of the highest daily sales in Young’s history. Our recent pub investments performed exceptionally well across the period.’
Like-for-like sales on the key Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day were up 10.5%.
Dodd said he continues to be optimistic about the year ahead whilst being mindful of the headwinds facing consumers and industry challenges thrown up by increases in the National Living Wage and employers National Insurance.
