Fuller, Smith and Turner has said that it remains confident of maintaining strong sales growth over the coming half year, despite a bad summer, largely due to its estate being well-prepared for the smoking ban.
At a press conference this morning following the announcement of the pub group’s interim results, Simon Emeny, managing director of Fuller’s Inns, said that the company had invested around £3m in preparing its estate for the ban.
The group has concentrated on creating high standard outside areas, with 90% of pubs now having specific provision for smokers and the remainder being in the city where their competitors are also in the same situation.
Emeny said: “I am convinced that this investment has maintained us as one of the industry leaders in like-for-like sales growth during a difficult summer.”
The company admitted that although it expected sales to be tougher during the second half, it believed that the business was well placed to deal with the ban.
Michael Turner, Fuller’s chairman, pointed out that the group had also benefited from having a good geographical balance of pubs, with 40% of the estate within the M25 and 60% outside.
He felt that the impact of the ban so far had been consistent with what the company had previously predicted and that up to now there had been no real surprises.
The company emphasized that nevertheless it was still early days and the next four to five months would be the real challenge for the industry, with the full effect of the ban not likely to be seen until the winter.
Fuller’s highlighted that while the group had concentrated on evolving its food offer, with the food mix over its whole estate having increased by two percentage points, the focus was not on running restaurants.
Turner said that the company was now facing a more “uncertain environment”, which although difficult to forecast, could be worse than people had first predicted.
He pointed out, however, that he thought Fuller’s would be less affected than other companies, due to its business mix and the location and type of its pubs.
Turner said: “I believe we have a well-balanced estate, making us less susceptible to swings in the London economy.”
The group said that in the future it would continue to look to acquire quality pubs for suitable prices.
The company emphasized that it did not intend to expand its six current hotels, but instead plans to open more pubs with rooms, thereby focusing on a better use of its assets and adding value to the business.
Fuller, Smith & Turner this morning reported an 11% increase in adjusted profit before tax to £12.1m for the 26 weeks to 29 September.
