Hook Norton returns to profit
The company reported a pre-tax profit of £401,955 (2012: pre-tax loss of £178,662) on turnover up 0.6% to £7.5m. Gross profit margins increased from 26.4% to 29.1%.
Hook Norton said: “Combined with tight control of overheads, the company recorded a profit for the year of £342,962 (2012: loss of £162,041), a turnaround of £505,003 on the prior year.”Operating profit increased 76.6% to £211,620.
'Better tenants'
Hook Norton described it as “one of the better performances of recent years”, with “more stability” in the tied estate and “better tenants being recruited”.
The company said: “We continued to review the future sustainability of our pub estate and with this in mind, sold two pubs during the year. It is increasingly difficult to sustain some smaller village pubs and we have perhaps in the past been too willing to keep persisting, where local demand is no longer sufficient to retain a pub, to the detriment of the company.
“We will therefore be disposing of some further sites in the next two years and looking to invest the proceeds back into the long term estate and potentially buying other pubs, which meet our criteria.
Lion beer
The firm said its new beer brand, Lion, has been “very well received and is gaining good traction in local and national accounts”. There was continued investment in the brewery in the year and the visitor centre continued to be developed, with a new coffee shop offer and greater range of merchandise.
“Beer quality has maintained its high levels, with trade returns at record lows,” Hook Norton said.
“The company remains securely capitalised with net current assets of £2,848,168 (2012: £2,261,340) and shareholder funds of £10,712,230 (2012: £10,355,148) and it continues to invest in the future of the business.
“While the results for the year are very encouraging, much still needs to be done, but the essence of achieving success in the future is increasing the volumes of cask beer produced to dilute the fixed costs of the brewery and ensuring we have a sustainable, good quality pub estate, with the right pubs in the right locations.”
