Young’s ensuring “steady pipeline” of new openings
Young’s is ensuring it has a “steady pipeline of new openings”, as the pub chain enjoys a strong year of trading.
In the 53 weeks ending April 3, the group added six new pubs to its estate, and invested £34.4m into its existing estate with notable projects in Streatham, East Sheen, Bow, and Notting Hill.
The chain said it is also making use of underutilised space in some of its pubs, for example at Hort’s Townhouse in Bristol, where 19 bedrooms were added, and the addition of a new roof terrace at the Marquess of Anglesey in Covent Garden, which is due to open next month.
In the second half of the year, Young’s transferred two tenanted pubs into its managed estate, in Bishopsgate and Clapham.
The group added that “exciting” projects are set to get underway at The Constitution in Camden, and the old bank site in Farnham, Surrey.
This comes off the back of solid results for the chain, which saw a year-on-year revenue increase of 19.4% from £309m in 2022 to £368.9m.
Adjusted operating profit also grew by 1.9% from £51.4m to £52.4m. Young’s net debt decreased 4.9% from £173.8m to £165.2m.
The group said that sales in the current period have performed well, with managed pub like-for-like sales for the last seven weeks up by 4.8%.
Simon Dodd, Young’s chief executive, said: “We are confident our premium, well-invested predominantly freehold pub estate, alongside our healthy balance sheet, will continue to deliver superior returns for our shareholders.”