Young & Co.'s Brewery (YNGA) H1 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved record interim adjusted profit before tax of £28.0m, up 12.0% year-over-year, with total revenue rising 5.4% to £196.5m for the 26 weeks ended 2 October 2023.

• Like-for-like revenue grew 3.6% against a strong comparator, with managed house revenue up 5.4% and sales ahead of 2019 by 10.8%.

• Strong performance in City and Central London pubs, with like-for-like sales growth of 8.0% and room revenue up 10.1% year-over-year.

• Continued investment in estate, with £39.1m invested including five freehold acquisitions and £20.3m in existing pubs.

• Announced a £162m recommended offer for City Pub Company plc, expanding premium pub portfolio.

Financial highlights

• Adjusted EBITDA increased 6.4% to £47.9m; adjusted operating profit up 6.9% to £31.0m; adjusted operating margin rose to 15.8%.

• Adjusted basic EPS rose 4.5% to 36.08p; basic EPS fell 8.9% to 29.75p due to higher adjusting items.

• Interim dividend increased 6.0% to 10.88p per share.

• Free cash flow declined to £18.9m from £32.2m year-over-year, reflecting higher capex and acquisitions.

• Net debt increased to £184.0m (from £168.1m), with net debt to EBITDA at 2.1x.

Outlook and guidance

• Trading in the six weeks post-period end up 5.8% (total) and 3.3% (like-for-like); Christmas bookings 13% ahead of last year; strong pipeline of projects and recent acquisitions.

• Ongoing investment in estate with recent acquisitions and major refurbishments planned.

• Cautious on macroeconomic uncertainty and potential rail strike impacts, but confident in premium managed pub strategy; balance sheet remains robust and business is operationally cash generative.