Young's in line with expectations

Young's, the London-based pub operator and brewer, has said that its has made a good start to its current financial year with trading in line with expectations, as the excellent weather and the addition of Geronimo Inns boosted sales.

In a trading update, it said that like-for-like sales across its managed estate were up 2.7% during its first quarter and that it had experienced a strong first seven-week period, which was boosted by the "excellent spring weather".

The company said that managed house sales were up 35.7% in total, which reflected "the addition of Geronimo Inns" to its business.

The group said that the integration of Geronimo, which it acquired for £60m at the end of last year, was complete and the synergies it envisaged at the time of the acquisition "are flowing through". Young's said it remained excited about the "increased opportunities this acquisition brings to the group".

The company said it had three site which will open in its current year; The Cow, a Geronimo pub in the new Westfield Stratford shopping centre; and the Plough at Clapham Junction and the Wheatsheaf in Borough Market, both Young's pubs which are due to re-open in the second half.

It said that it continued to invest in its existing estate and to investigate further opportunities to expand both the Young's and Geronimo estates.

Christopher Sandland, chairman, said: "Overall, we continue to believe that the quality and growth potential of our estate will help us to mitigate the effect of what remains a fragile economic recovery."