Mitchells and Butlers see profits slip amid cold weather and rising costs

Pub group Mitchells and Butlers has reported a profit drop of 5.4% to £141m compared with the same period last year.

The company behind Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One said that it was “adversely impacted” by an estimated £8m due to weather as well as disposals made last year (£2m) and closure cost from acceleration of its capital programme (£2m).

It also said it was pressured by cost pressures, particularly on labour, utilities, property costs, energy, food and drink costs.

In its half-year results, Mitchells and Butlers saw its like-for-like sales for the 32 weeks to 12 May 2018 increase by 1.4%. This amounted to £1.13bn, which was were 0.6% higher than the same period last year. Food sales up by 1.8% and drink sales by 1.4%.

The group’s report said: “We remain focused on our three strategic priorities; to build a more balanced business, to instill a more commercial culture and to drive an innovation agenda. We are pleased with further progress against actions implemented in the previous financial year which is translating into a sustained improvement in sales performance.

“We believe that success in our market is dependent on a continuous stream of improvements, and that is what we are focused on delivering.”