Marston's reports higher sales on Christmas season rush (updated)
21/01/2025 07:35
(Adds context in paragraph 4, CEO comment in paragraph 5, and
market expectations in paragraph 6)
Jan 21 (Reuters) - Britain's Marston's MARS.L reported
on Tuesday a 3% jump in sales for the 16-week period ended Jan.
18, driven by a surge in pubs visits for food and drinks during
the Christmas season.
The Wolverhampton-based group said like-for-like sales for
the period were up 2%, compared with an 8.1% in the prior year,
due to cold weather conditions in November and January.
On the other hand, like-for-like sales for the two weeks
covering the key festive days rose 11.1% from last year.
UK pubs, which enjoyed higher footfall as consumers spent
more on discretionary items during the holiday period, are now
grappling with cost pressures from rising taxes and employer
social security contributions.
"We remain well-placed to deliver FY25 market expectations
and the guidance set out at our October 2024 Capital Markets
Day, CEO Justin Platt in a statement.
According to company-compiled consensus, analysts expect
Marston's to report an underlying profit before tax of 68.3
million pounds ($83.86 million) in fiscal 2025, up from 42.1
million pounds in 2024.
($1 = 0.8145 pounds)
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job; Editing by Janane
Venkatraman and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
((mailto:RaechelThankam.Job@thomsonreuters.com;))