Marston's tones up sales with its 'F-Plan'

 Marston's has revealed its

 "F-Plan" to exploit positive market trends and beat the smoke ban.

 Food, families, females and the over-50s make up the

 "F-Plan", which the pub chain hopes will help boost sales.There will also be more focus on income from rooms and a reduction in wet-led promotion in favour of "every day fair prices".

 Chief executive Ralph Findlay said the gradual removal of Sky Sports in recent years was also part of the company's "F-Plan".

 In addition the strategy for organic growth involved building 20 new community pub sites a year and further developing its brands.

 Findlay said its programme of opening new-build pubs made it the leading developer of such sites in the sector. "It represents an opportunity to carry on upgrading the quality of the estate - building modern pubs in exactly the right places," he said.

 The acquisition of Eldridge Pope earlier this year will also allow the development of the Que Pasa brand and Marston's Pitcher & Piano chain. Six Que Pasa sites are to be converted to Pitchers and around 15 unbranded Marston's bars will be turned into Que Pasas.

 Meanwhile, food sales in the managed Marston's Inns & Taverns rose 14% in the 26 weeks to 31 March - prices have been pegged over the past year.

 Findlay said food now represented 33% of all sales in the managed division - and would move close to 40% in the next few years. He said the company's 141 branded and unbranded high-street estate was one area where food sales level could be improved further - it currently stands at around 15%.

 Underlying pre-tax profit was £41.6m in the period, a 1.5% increase on the same time last year. Marston's said that pre-tax profit was impacted by higher interest costs resulting from its share buyback programme and acquisitions during the period.

Marston's: No Reit for now

 Converting Marston's to a Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) has been ruled out by management because the cost - at least £100m - would cancel out any tax benefits. Chairman David Thompson said: "Additionally, the freehold ownership of pubs gives us critical operational flexibility in today's

 rapidly-changing trading environment. "[We] will continue

 to review the situation as the market for Reits in the pub sector develops."

Steaming ahead of smoke ban

 Marston's is spending up to £350,000 on a steam-clean at all its tenanted pubs prior to the start of ban on smoking in public places.

 The company paid for a steam-clean, costing between £150 and £200 per pub, at its 182 pubs in Wales prior to the start of the smoke ban on 2 April.

 Likewise, around 1,600 tenanted pubs in England will have a steam-clean of carpets, curtains and soft furnishings before the smoking ban starts on 1 July.

 Chief executive Ralph Findlay said 90% of the company's tenanted pubs offer food. And the disposal of 279 pubs at the start of May also reduced risk in the tenanted division because the sites had "limited opportunity for food".