Overview
- The pub group expects about £130 million of additional costs next year, driven by higher wage and employer national insurance requirements and elevated food inflation, especially meat.
- Management said the estimate includes a preliminary assessment of the Autumn Budget’s impact, including business-rate changes and the latest national living wage rise.
- Prices across menus and drinks were lifted by roughly 3.2% from early October, while steak costs are up about 30%, pressuring Miller & Carter and some Toby Carvery dishes as menus are reworked without reducing quality or portion size.
- Full-year results showed revenue near £2.7 billion, pre-tax profit around £238 million and like-for-like sales up 4.3%, with net debt reduced to £843 million and efficiency gains under the Ignite programme supporting margins.
- Trading in the first eight weeks of the new financial year saw like-for-like sales up 3.8%, and shares jumped roughly 9%–12% on the update as analysts praised resilience but cautioned on macro and policy risks.