The City Pub Group has reported revenue of £57.8m in its audited results for the year ended 25 December 2022, up 63% from £35.4m the prior year.
Profit before tax (pre-IFRS 16) was £3.8m, up 280% from £1m in 2021, while like-for-like (lfl) gross sales were up 3%, improving to 7.8% in Q4.
The group, which operates a predominantly freehold estate of 43 premium pubs across Southern England and Wales, further reported adjusted EBITDA of £8m, up 111% from £3.8m the prior year.
“Sales, pleasingly, have returned to pre-Covid levels and the Group now has a fully refurbished, very well invested estate from which to move forward with a strong financial base with historically low levels of debt and an efficient operational platform.”
City Pub Group has since seen an encouraging performance in 2023, with Q1 lfl sales vs 2022 in excess of 13% and ahead of expectations.
It increased investment in Mosaic Pub & Dining Group to 48% in April 2023, with the intention to take operational control in the next two months.
”We will now integrate the Mosaic estate into our own estate over the course of the next two to three months. The Mosaic estate comprises of 9 pubs situated in London and Birmingham, of which seven are freehold. We welcome the Mosaic employees to our Group. There are many cultural similarities between the two companies and we anticipate a smooth, effective and efficient integration process. This is a great step forward for the Group - now with 52 operational sites located in great cities or fantastic destination locations.”
According to the update, performance is underpinned by increasing pubs’ retail intensity as a result of operational improvements, while inflationary pressures have begun to abate in some areas.
Since its interim results announced in September 2022, City Pub Group completed its estate refurbishment programme and acquired two pubs.
It had a historic low of £4m of net debt at year end following the £16m sale of six pubs in June 2022 and disposal of three non-core leaseholds.
It launched a share buyback programme in October 2022, acquiring c1 million shares or 0.95% of issued share capital to date at a cost of £830,000.
The group also strengthened its management team to drive premiumisation of the estate, with Rupert Clark appointed as chief operating officer in January 2023 and Richard Myers appointed as chief marketing officer in February 2023.
It has stated it is primarily focused on organic growth.
Chairman Clive Watson commented: “The Group has achieved a pleasing performance through 2022, demonstrating the strength of our adaptable model and ability to recover following covid and through the challenging conditions of the last year. Our premium estate is now fully refurbished creating, together with the strengthened management team, a platform for expansion when the time is right.
“Our near term ambition is to continue to premiumise the pub estate to deliver additional organic sales and profit growth. We have seen an encouraging start to the year, with trading ahead of expectations which, whilst still early in the year, provides confidence for the coming year.”
