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M&B LFL sales improve in Q1 amid boardroom disarray.
Mitchells & Butlers reported better than expected Q1 sales today, benefiting from milder weather over the Christmas and New Year period and strong demand for informal dining.
The company, whose chains include Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One, said it was confident of further growth in the year ahead.
M&B said sales at restaurants and pubs open more than a year grew by 4.4% in the 17 weeks to January 21, which exceeded market expectations, and LFL were up 6.5%.
M&B, which has around 1,600 restaurants and pubs across Britain, said trading in January had been more subdued but consistent with the underlying like-for-like sales trend first noted in July last year of around 1% growth.
The group was the subject of two rejected bid approaches from its biggest shareholder, billionaire currency trader Joe Lewis, last year. Lewis, who holds a stake of over 25%, aborted a 230 pence per share offer, valuing the business at around £940 million in October.
Under takeover rules, he is prohibited from making another approach until April this year.
M&B has been the subject of boardroom upheaval, having gone through six chairmen over the past two years, and has been without a permanent chief executive since Adam Fowle departed last March. There are also corporate govenance concerns, with two Lewis nominees on the board, and no independent non-exec's.
Industry veteran Bob Ivell, a former managing director of Scottish & Newcastle's managed pubs division, is currently acting as executive chairman and leading the search for a new CEO.
Shares in M&B closed last night at 258.6p, valuing the business at £1.06 billion.
The company, whose chains include Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One, said it was confident of further growth in the year ahead.
M&B said sales at restaurants and pubs open more than a year grew by 4.4% in the 17 weeks to January 21, which exceeded market expectations, and LFL were up 6.5%.
M&B, which has around 1,600 restaurants and pubs across Britain, said trading in January had been more subdued but consistent with the underlying like-for-like sales trend first noted in July last year of around 1% growth.
The group was the subject of two rejected bid approaches from its biggest shareholder, billionaire currency trader Joe Lewis, last year. Lewis, who holds a stake of over 25%, aborted a 230 pence per share offer, valuing the business at around £940 million in October.
Under takeover rules, he is prohibited from making another approach until April this year.
M&B has been the subject of boardroom upheaval, having gone through six chairmen over the past two years, and has been without a permanent chief executive since Adam Fowle departed last March. There are also corporate govenance concerns, with two Lewis nominees on the board, and no independent non-exec's.
Industry veteran Bob Ivell, a former managing director of Scottish & Newcastle's managed pubs division, is currently acting as executive chairman and leading the search for a new CEO.
Shares in M&B closed last night at 258.6p, valuing the business at £1.06 billion.
Thu, 26th Jan 2012