Mitchells & Butlers cheers higher sales as FY profits beat forecasts

(Sharecast News) - Pub group Mitchells & Butlers posted better-than-expected annual profits despite rising cost pressures, adding that like for like sales in the last two months had risen by 3.8% despite uncertainty ahead of the UK government's Budget. The upbeat performance came as the company reported a jump in full-year pre-tax profits to £238m from £199m. Group like for like sales in the year to September 27 rose 4.3%.

On an adjusted basis, pre-tax profit came in at £246m, up from £211m a year earlier and beating expectations of £237.5m.

M&B said it expected cost headwinds of around £130m for the current year before mitigation, driven by labour cost rises, further increases in tax thresholds, and higher food inflation.

"This includes our preliminary assessment of the impact of the ... recent Autumn Budget, pending clarification of further detail," the company said.

"We believe that our strong market position, together with the success of our Ignite improvement programme, should enable us to continue to outperform the sector and leave us well positioned to mitigate these increases."

Looking ahead, M&B said it expected LFL sales to outperform growth forecasts for the eating out market of 2.4% in fiscal 2026.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com