The brewer Marston’s has announced on Wednesday they have made a £20m loss over the last year compared to £54.3m profit during 2018.
In the year to 28 September revenue in the pub chain grew to £1.17bn compared to £1.14bn in 2018, profit before tax slipped to £101m on an underlying basis from £1.4m, but posted a £20m loss on statutory basis.
Chief executive Ralph Findlay said, “Our principal focus remains to reduce our net debt by £200m by 2023, or earlier and the measures we are taking now will result in a high quality business which is cash generative after dividends and capital expenditure.
“Trading is on track for the initial weeks of the current year and we are well prepared for the all-important Christmas and New Year period.”
Market analyst at CMC Markets David Madden said, “The firm saw costs associated with interest rate swaps jump by over £48m, and that is what pushed the firm into the red.
“It is worth noting that operating expenses rose by 5.9%, so the interest rate product can’t be blamed for everything.”
Like-for-like sales growth rose by 0.8% and shares were up by almost 1% on Wednesday morning.
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