Fuller, Smith & Turner (FSTA) H1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Delivered strong half-year results with revenue up 2.8% to £194.1m and adjusted profit before tax up 21% to £17.6m year-over-year.

• Statutory profit before tax rose to £29.0m, driven by a £17.2m book profit from the sale of The Mad Hatter hotel.

• Like-for-like sales in Managed Pubs & Hotels grew 5.2%, outperforming the market by two percentage points.

• Acquired Lovely Pubs (seven sites) for £22.5m and sold 37 non-core pubs for £18.3m, enhancing estate quality and generating significant profit.

• Interim dividend increased 12% to 7.41p per share; share buybacks ongoing, with 1.2m shares repurchased at a 27% discount to 2021 placing.

Financial highlights

• Adjusted operating profit rose to £24.2m from £21.4m; adjusted EBITDA up to £37.6m from £34.8m.

• Adjusted EPS up 27% to 21.81p; basic EPS increased to 37.44p.

• Net debt (excluding leases) reduced to £128.2m; net debt/EBITDA down to 2.3x from 2.6x.

• Operating margin in Managed Pubs & Hotels improved to 15.7%; group margin up to 12.5%.

• Statutory profit after tax doubled to £21.8m, driven by profit on disposal of The Mad Hatter.

Outlook and guidance

• Like-for-like sales for the first 32 weeks up 5.4% year-over-year; Christmas bookings up 15%.

• £20m capex planned for H2, including major refurbishments and estate enhancements.

• Depreciation expected at £27m, interest charge at £14m, and organic capital investment of ~£30m for FY2025.

• Adjusted effective tax rate estimated at 27-28%.

• Confident in meeting current market expectations for the full year despite macroeconomic and budget-related cost pressures.