Belhaven, Scotland's biggest independent brewer and pub owner, has signed a £70m five-year deal with Interbrew's Tennent Caledonian subsidiary for lager supplies that covers both Stella Artois and Tennent's.
The news of the deal came as Belhaven announced a 23% rise in full-year profits to £9.2m, after profit before tax increased by 29.3% in the second half of the year.
Stuart Ross, Belhaven's chief executive, said the figures reflected a very strong period of trading over the Christmas and New Year periods as well as the benefits of the integration of the 13 pubs acquired from Maclay Group.
The pubs side, which increased from 117 to 151 pubs during the course of the year, saw a rise in operating profits for the year of 25.3% to £6.93m while the brewing and distribution side, Belhaven Drinks, reported operating profits up 24.3% to £6.11m. At the end of the year the company operated 52 managed houses and 99 tenanted pubs. Turnover in manager pubs was up 25% to £18.01m and in tenanted pubs 26% to £7.23m. At the brewery, barrelage volume increased 20.5%.
Belhaven, which said it had made an "excellent" start to its current financial year, said it plans to double the number of its pubs in the next few years to about 300.
Ross said he would like to move into England and he had been attracted by plenty of pubs there but they were too expensive.
The lager supply deal with Tennent Caledonian, which extends an arrangement that dates back to 1979, means Belhaven can continue to focus on the ale market, where its Belhaven Best, which pioneered the nitrokeg market, is one of the top 10 drinks brands in Scotland.
Belhaven sells and distributes almost 100,000 barrels of lager a year through its own 160 pubs and the free trade.
The news of the deal came as Belhaven announced a 23% rise in full-year profits to £9.2m, after profit before tax increased by 29.3% in the second half of the year.
Stuart Ross, Belhaven's chief executive, said the figures reflected a very strong period of trading over the Christmas and New Year periods as well as the benefits of the integration of the 13 pubs acquired from Maclay Group.
The pubs side, which increased from 117 to 151 pubs during the course of the year, saw a rise in operating profits for the year of 25.3% to £6.93m while the brewing and distribution side, Belhaven Drinks, reported operating profits up 24.3% to £6.11m. At the end of the year the company operated 52 managed houses and 99 tenanted pubs. Turnover in manager pubs was up 25% to £18.01m and in tenanted pubs 26% to £7.23m. At the brewery, barrelage volume increased 20.5%.
Belhaven, which said it had made an "excellent" start to its current financial year, said it plans to double the number of its pubs in the next few years to about 300.
Ross said he would like to move into England and he had been attracted by plenty of pubs there but they were too expensive.
The lager supply deal with Tennent Caledonian, which extends an arrangement that dates back to 1979, means Belhaven can continue to focus on the ale market, where its Belhaven Best, which pioneered the nitrokeg market, is one of the top 10 drinks brands in Scotland.
Belhaven sells and distributes almost 100,000 barrels of lager a year through its own 160 pubs and the free trade.
