Ei Group sees earnings slide due to property disposals

Ei Group, which Stonegate agreed to buy in July, has reported a small drop in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) to £276m, reflecting the sale of £340.6m worth of property assets.

The pub giant said that underlying profit before tax was £118m, while like-for-like net income rose 1.2% for the year to 30 September 2018, with average income per pub up 2.2% once disposals were accounted for.

Its managed pubs, which now amount to 392 sites, including its Bermondsey estate and Craft Union estate as well as 70 managed investment pubs, saw like-for-like growth of 5%.

In July a deal was reached with Stonegate to sell the business for £1.27b, though its completion depends on the outcome of a Competition and Markets Authority investigation.

Chief executive Simon Townsend said: "We are pleased to have maintained the strong trading performance for the year, particularly given the challenging trading comparatives from the summer last year. We continue to deliver sustained like-for-like net income growth within our core publican partnerships business and are generating strong returns as we expand our managed operations and managed investments businesses.

He added: "As a board and management team, we remain focused on leading the organisation through to the expected completion of the transaction. Our objectives are unchanged; it is business as usual. We continue to identify operational improvements to drive growth in like-for-like performance and to seek the optimum use for each of our properties."