REG - City Pub Group (The) - AGM Trading Update

City PubAnnouncement

08/06/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220608:nRSH0549Oa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0549O  City Pub Group PLC (The)  08 June 2022

City Pub Group PLC

("The City Pub Group" or "the Group")

AGM Trading Update

Sales now ahead of 2019 levels

The City Pub Group, the owner and operator of 42 premium pubs across Southern
England and Wales and a further two development sites, is pleased to announce
that LFL sales have continued to strengthen faster than predicted, with May
2022 5% ahead of May 2019.

Last week's trade - which included the Jubilee Bank Holiday Celebrations - was
particularly strong, with LFL sales up in excess of 20% versus 2019. Whilst
this is clearly a one-off event, it was great to see customers coming back to
our pubs in force. Each pub organised its own activities and events, enhancing
the individuality of the Group's estate.

Following the delays caused by the pandemic, we are delighted to have recently
opened The Oyster House in Mumbles and The Tivoli in Cambridge. Initial
trading is encouraging at both sites.  Two high quality additions to the
portfolio, we are confident that in time they will be amongst our top
performing assets within the estate. We are also benefitting from investments
where we have either refurbished or achieved capacity gains, such as The Hoste
and The Cliftonville Hotel.  In addition, our new all-day trading concept in
Bury St Edmunds, Damson and Wilde, is expected to open next week. Progress is
being made on our remaining development at The Nest in Bath which is
anticipated to open in August.

We continue to seek ways of mitigating the increased cost inflation facing the
wider sector and have reviewed our cost base with renewed vigour, with
particular focus on labour scheduling to maximise sales and efficiency.
Control of energy usage and procurement remains a key focus from both
environmental and cost perspectives and we continue to evaluate our menu
offering to provide best value and experience for our customers, whilst
delivering great food in a cost-effective way for the Group.

Whilst we are mindful of the many economic challenges and cost pressures which
currently persist, we now have strong sales momentum across the Group
following three months of restriction-free trading and we are keenly focused
on ways to increase sales further. An example of this is our focus on
promotion of national and local events which are translating into strong
forward bookings, underpinning our confidence in a good second half
performance. We will also benefit from the flexibility which our low net debt
position affords - both in our customer proposition (making the right
decisions on price) - and our ability to act decisively and quickly on
acquisitions to create value. We remain on track to meet our expectations for
the year.

Clive Watson, Executive Chairman of The City Pub Group, said:

"We continue to see our sales growth reflecting the quality of our pubs and
customer offering. With a strong foundation to build on, and momentum that has
been created through investment in - and opening of - our development sites,
we look forward to an uninterrupted Summer's trading for the first time in two
years. Despite the macro economic headwinds, recent openings, tight cost
control and a low net debt position leave us well positioned to continue to
develop our business both organically and through selective high-quality
acquisitions during the rest of the year as opportunities arise."

The City Pub Group is pleased to announce its inclusion in the Official
Platinum Jubilee Pageant Commemorative Album which can now be ordered here:
https://stjamess.org/products/the-official-commemorative-album.

 

 Enquiries:
 City Pub Group                Via Instinctif Partners
 Clive Watson, Chairman

Holly Elliott, CFO
 Instinctif Partners           +44 (0) 20 7457 2020
 Matthew Smallwood

 Justine Warren
 Liberum (Nomad & Broker)      +44 (0) 20 3100 2000

Chris Clarke

Edward Thomas

Kane Collings
 Peel Hunt (Joint Broker)      +44 (0) 203 128 8789

 George Sellar

 Andrew Clarke

8 June 2022

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  AGMUPUQUQUPPGQM