Cheers Ma’am! Platinum Jubilee boosts pub sales
TWO of Britain’s top hospitality groups are celebrating the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The City Pub Group, which runs 42 pubs in southern England and Wales, hailed ‘particularly strong’ sales last week as the bank holiday pushed like-for-like trade up by more than 20pc against 2019.
It said: ‘Whilst this is clearly a one-off event, it was great to see customers coming back in force.’
City Pub Group, which employs around 900 staff, said the boost came after a better-than-expected May when sales were 5pc ahead of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
The bar owner said it was aware of inflationary pressure but insisted it now has ‘strong sales momentum’ following the lifting of Covid restrictions.
Clive Watson, executive chairman, said it looks forward to an ‘uninterrupted summer’s trading for the first time in two years’.
Analysts at Liberum reiterated a ‘buy’ rating as shares rose 3.2pc, or 3p, to 96.5p.
Investors in Fulham Shore also had much to cheer. Shares climbed 1.8pc, or 0.25p, to 14.5p after the owner of Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurants said it was serving more than 140,000 customers a week at the two chains.
Fulham Shore hailed the return of tourists to London and other cities but cautioned over the slower recovery at its restaurants in more office-based locations.
It said sales were in line with expectations in April and May, and that it has raised prices and renegotiated rents to offset ‘industry-wide cost pressures’.
Fulham Shore has opened ten restaurants in the last 12 months and plans 18 more in the next financial year. With Britain’s economy forecast to become one of the worst performing among the G20 next year, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.1pc, or 5.93 points, to 7593 while the FTSE 250 fell 0.4pc, or 88.44 points, to 20,310.9.
Industrial software group Aveva pulled away from the rest of the top flight index on the back of its full-year results, reporting a 44.5pc rise in revenue to £1.2bn after its purchase of the Osisoft business.
But it racked up losses of £6.5m, having made a profit of £36.6m the previous year. It also raised its final dividend by 4.3pc, to 24.5p per share, sending the stock up 10.7pc, or 238p, to 2468p.
Heading in the other direction was Royal Mail, down 5.2pc, or 15.9p, to 291.4p, its lowest level since November 2020.
It has been relegated from the FTSE 100 having seen its shares tumble as demand for parcel deliveries eases following the end of the pandemic. It will join the FTSE 250 later this month.
In the second tier, defence group Chemring said the delay in passing the US Department of Defence budget hit dealings with government departments and securing orders. Its shares fell by 4.6pc, or 17p, to 329p.
It was a good day for Safestyle (up 3.9pc, or 1.7p, to 44.9p) as it revealed revenues in the first four months rose 6.7pc compared with a year earlier. In its interim results, the window and door firm hailed its TV advert, which starred England goalkeeping legend David Seaman, for lifting growth.
Workspace fell 3.7pc, or 27p, to 695p despite improved revenues and profits as the office space provider was boosted by an end to lockdown restrictions.
Net rental income rose 6.4pc to £86.7m, as more people and businesses sought offices and it posted annual profits of £124m, after losing £235.7m the previous year.
Polling company YouGov was flat at 1210p, after it pushed back against allegations that it suppressed a poll. Former employee Chris Curtis claimed this occurred because the results were ‘too positive about Labour’ in the run-up to the 2017 general election.