Mitchells & Butlers, which owns chains including Toby Carvery, All Bar One and O’Neill’s, has reported higher sales after the recent hot spell drove more punters into its pubs.
Like-for-like sales at the pub and restaurant group increased by 1.8% in the past eight weeks. Drink sales were up 3.7% while food sales edged up 0.4%. Sales in the 51 weeks to 17 September dipped 0.8%.
The company’s shares rose 2.7% to 272p in early trading.
The company reiterated that profit margins for the full year would be below last year, reflecting increased investment and higher wage costs following the introduction of the national living wage. Mitchells has revamped 244 sites and opened seven new ones.
Phil Urban, the chief executive, said: “We are encouraged by our improved trading performance in recent months. Weather in recent weeks has certainly been helpful to sales, but in addition we are starting to benefit from increased investment activity, instilling a commercial culture and a faster pace of execution and innovation in our business.”
He repeated warnings over rising labour costs in the company’s new financial year. Urban took the reins a year ago after a washout summer forced Mitchells to warn on profits and led to the departure of its previous chief executive.
Mitchells is one of Britain’s biggest pub and restaurant groups. It owns chains including Harvester, Browns, Castle, Nicholson’s and Ember Inns. It also runs Innkeeper’s Lodge hotels in the UK and Alex restaurants and bars in Germany.
