Marston’s cuts debts and returns to profit after selling brewing arm

Pub giant Marston’s has bounced back to profit and slashed its debt pile after selling off its remaining brewing business.

Boss Justin Platt said the business has entered “an exciting new chapter” after becoming a pure pub business.

In July, the business sold off its 40% stake in its Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company joint venture with the Danish beer group in order to focus on pubs and help boost its finances.

On Tuesday, Marston’s said the deal helped cut its net debt by more than a quarter to £883.7 million at the end of September, compared with £1.18 billion a year earlier.

It came as the company, which operates 1,339 pubs across the UK, revealed that revenues increased by 3% to £898.6 million for the year to September 28, compared with the previous year.

Like-for-like sales were 4.8% higher as it benefited from stronger sales of food and drink despite easing inflation.

This helped pre-tax profits to lift to £14.4 million for the year from a £30.6 million pre-tax loss a year earlier, as it also benefited from stronger operational efficiencies.

Mr Platt said: “2024 has been a defining year for Marston’s as we began an exciting new chapter as a leading pure-play hospitality business.

“The sale of our stake in CMBC (Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company) has been transformational, enabling us to significantly reduce debt, increase our flexibility and focus on what we do best: running great local pubs.

“This single-minded focus, combined with our rejuvenated strategy, is already showing in strong financial results.”

The company highlighted that it has seen encouraging trading in more recent weeks, with like-for-like sales up 3.9% over the past six weeks.

It also said Christmas bookings are “ahead” of the previous year.