Shepherd toasts record sales

Britain’s oldest brewer said it notched up its highest ever beer volumes and turnover, which rose 1.6 per cent to £61.7m, as resilient demand for ales and speciality beers helped it weather a challenging pub market.

Pre-tax profits slipped 7 per cent to £3.4m after margins came under pressure and the group cautioned over a further impact from a spike in costs of wheat and barley, as well as utility bills.

It said it was concerned over the hit to production costs in the second half and the next financial year, while it also noted the consumer squeeze from government spending cuts.

However, sales at the Kent-based pub and brewing group offered some cheer as like-for-like sales in its 44 managed pubs rose 3.6 per cent despite the pre-Christmas snow and wider economic pressure.

This accelerated to a “very encouraging” 11.4 per cent hike in the first nine weeks of the second half as it bounced back from the snow chaos, although it was helped by weak comparatives from adverse weather last January and February.

Its larger 315-strong tenanted estate, which has suffered the most amid a tough pub market in recent years, reported largely stable average underlying earnings per pub, down 0.6 per cent.

Shepherd grew half-year beer sales volumes by 0.6 per cent, although own-brand volumes eased back 0.7 per cent.