In advance of Greene King’s trading statement tomorrow (12 April), covering the 49 weeks to 8 April 2018, Brian Devitt, gaming and leisure analyst at Goodbody, predicts ‘another difficult trading statement’ reflecting the poor weather seen earlier this year.
In advance of Greene King’s trading statement tomorrow (12 April), covering the 49 weeks to 8 April 2018, Brian Devitt, gaming and leisure analyst at Goodbody, predicts ‘another difficult trading statement’ reflecting the poor weather seen earlier this year.
Devitt said: “We forecast Pub company like-for-likes of -1.5% yoy for FY18, although this is before adjusting for any potential negative impact from poor weather in March.
“In terms of the weather, it is always difficult to quantify the impact of disruption to very short time periods but we believe it could have impacted full year lfl growth by 20-30bps.
“In Pub Partners we expect like-for-like net income flat yoy and in Brewing & Brands we expect flat own brewed volumes.
He continued: “We maintain a cautious view on Greene King. Following the share price weakness in the year to date, our price target is just 3% below the current price. However, given the fact operational momentum in the business is more likely to have worsened, we are inclined to keep our negative recommendation on the stock. We continue to see better opportunities elsewhere in the sector at present.”
