Young's will reopen pubs by 3 August

Young's has reported a 2.6% increase in total group revenue to £311.6m and confirms it will be in a "strong position" to reopen all of its pubs by 3 August.

The company's end-of-year results, released yesterday, confirmed its managed house revenue was up 3% to £299m, a figure supported by a "significant contribution" from Redcomb pubs, which Young's acquired for £34m in January last year, as well as the recent acquisition of five pubs in south-west London and the Surrey suburbs that traded for only a matter of days before they were forced to close.

In a statement Young's, which had a period-end total pub count of 276, said the coronavirus pandemic had had a "significant impact" on the results. Forced to close its pubs for the final 10 days of the financial year, along with the gradual decline in trade in the run-up to lockdown, resulted in a downturn in trade of an estimated £13m shortfall in revenue, generating a "disproportionately negative" impact on profits, estimated to be £7.7m.

The company reported its managed house adjusted operating profits were down 5% to £58.4m. For the Ram Pub Company, its group of individually run pubs, the adjusted operating profit was £4.1m, down by £0.9m in what had been a "tough year".

The company also reported improved liquidity as a result of arranging £50m of additional funds and committed facilities until 2025.

Patrick Dardis, chief executive of Young's, said he was "proud of the performance" of the business this year "despite the unique challenges" it had faced.

"These results demonstrate the continued strength of our strategy of operating a differentiated, premium and well-invested pub estate. We are confident with the steps we have taken to safeguard our business from the immediate threat of coronavirus. The board expects the business to be in a position to return to profitable growth when this unprecedented period is at an end and conditions allow, and we remain confident in our proven strategy."

Dardis also expressed gratitude for the "positive moves" made by the chancellor by extending the CJRS to October and for initiating the business rates holiday.

Despite anticipating trading in FY21 to be "materially below average", he said: "We believe that one of the keys to our success is our ability to recruit, train and retain the very best people in the industry, and this is now more important than ever. The decision to retain all our staff following the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis by placing the vast majority on furlough not only helped safeguard the cash flow of the business but also ensures we are in a strong position when we re-open our doors."

This time last year, Young's reported a "highly successful" year with revenue up by 8.7% to £303.7m.