Wadworth outlines priorities after challenging year

The company, which reported a 17.7% fall in pre-tax profits to £3.4m in the year to 30 September 2012, described its outlook for 2013 as “challenging” as consumer spending is “still subdued”.

Chairman Charles Bartholomew said in its annual accounts: “Our focus is on specific areas in each department. In the tenanted trade we are recruiting an extra business development manager, which will give one a maximum of 40 houses to look after and will give more time to develop business opportunities and grow trade.”

He revealed that Wadworth has introduced segmentation into the managed estate “so customers will have a better understanding of what the offering is in each house”.

“Food and food margins are a priority as there is still growth to be had and we can have more control over this area.”

Disappointing​

Bartholomew said the firm saw “no change to the challenging consumer environment” in the year, although profit increased slightly from £4,117,000 to £4,147,000 and turnover was up a fraction from £55,027,000 to £55,231,000.

Q3 was affected by “exceptionally poor weather” and a “disappointing” Olympics and Paralympics, mitigated by a “strong performance” in Q4.

Its 197-strong tenanted estate grew 1% on a like-for-like basis to £55,000, with a “small increase in wholesale income, a small decline in rental income and some savings on overheads”. Five pubs were sold and the four that transferred from managed contributed more.

In the managed estate, sales grew 5%, with growth in food, beer and wine sales, but “margins were tighter and utility costs were higher leaving the core estate slightly behind last year in retail profit”.