First half profits down at Greene King

Despite a 15 per cent fall in first half profits, Suffolk brewer Greene King has maintained its dividend payment to shareholders.

The brewer said that although operating profit was below last year, "strong conversion of profit into cash has allowed the board to declare an interim dividend of 7.3p per share, in line with last year".

The decision to maintain the payment to investors was widely expected and came as Greene King today reported overall turnover in the six months to October 19, 2008 effectively flat at £445.5m, with operating profit down 4.5 per cent to £106.8m.

Announcing pre-tax profits down 15.2 per cent at £60.7m, chief executive Rooney Anand said the current numbers covered one of the most difficult trading periods for many years.

"Despite this, our performance has been solid across the business, meeting market expectations and demonstrating yet again the strength of the integrated model and the benefits of our long-term investment," he said.

The economic situation was likely to worsen in the New Year, he added "and so we continue to realign our businesses to reflect the rapidly changing environment and address our cost base to protect our profitability".

Current trading conditions remained "challenging and volatile", Anand said, with like-for-like sales in the group's managed pub business down two per cent in the first 30 weeks of the financial year, while trade across its leased and tenanted pub business had "softened slightly".

More to follow​...

Greene King's results at-a-glance

Greene King Retail​

Turnover £266.3m (down 0.7 per cent)

Operating profit £52.3m (down 7.4 per cent)

Greene King Pub Partners​

Turnover £74.8m (down 2.3 per cent)

Operating profit £35.8m (down 2.5 per cent)

Belhaven​

Turnover £63m (up 7.1 per cent)

Operating profit £14.6m (up 9.8 per cent)

Brewing Company​

Turnover £41.4m (no change)

Operating profit £9.2m (down 11.5 per cent)