Managed pubs record like-for-like lift in October

15-Nov-2010 - Last updated on 27-Aug-2011 at 08:36 GMT

Harvester: one of the M&B brands in the tracker

Managed pub, bar and casual dining chains, saw like-for-like sales grow 2.2% in October on last year — but recorded a 16.2% drop on September. In...

Managed pub, bar and casual dining chains, saw like-for-like sales grow 2.2% in October on last year — but recorded a 16.2% drop on September.

In October, total sales, including new openings, were up 3.6% — the fifth month in a row that same-store sales in the eating and drinking out-of-home market have been ahead of the same time last year.

The figures come from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker, which monitors sales performance across 17 major pub and restaurant operators, including Mitchells & Butlers, Whitbread, Pizza Hut, Punch Pub Co, Gondola and Tragus.

The October result follows a good summer for the chains. Tracker figures showed like-for-likes ahead +1.0% in September, +1.5% in August, +1.9% in July and +1.4% in June, against the same months in 2009. Last year, October saw a +2.8% like-for-like increase on 2008 levels.

Month-on-month figures, however, show fluctuations, with October's sales being down -16.2% on September, which had in turn had been +15.1% up on August.

"These are nonetheless encouraging results, showing a consistently good showing by the bigger operators. It will help fuel optimism for the run-up to Christmas," said Peach Factory's Peter Martin. "The public is still going out and the bigger, often branded, chains are keeping their customers coming through the door."

VAT rise

Richard Hathaway, head of travel, leisure and tourism at KPMG commented: "We expect this year to be an overall good year for larger operators. However, the next challenge will be the VAT increase in January, but a steady increase this year will help lift market confidence as we enter 2011."

David Coffer, chairman of the Coffer Group, said: "Although encouraging on a year-on-year basis generally, there is still fluctuation in the short-term in the market and the -16.2% change in October against the previous month is indicative of the fickleness of the UK food and beverage public. This '4 step forward, 1 back' mentality will, I believe, continue into 2011 making it difficult to predict future market trends and conditions."

Jonathan Leinster, head of European leisure and tobacco research, at UBS Investment Bank, said that the managed sector still needed "good sales growth now to deal with the difficulty of another VAT rise and rising food inflation".