Football fans visiting the pub to watch England’s World Cup matches have boosted drink sales at Marston’s by up to 50 per cent, providing a fillip for the sector as it struggles with higher costs.
Andrew Andrea, Marston’s chief executive, said the group’s 1,468 pubs were benefiting from a “winter World Cup bonus” after the England team defeated Senegal on Sunday to reach the quarter finals of the tournament.
“Even on a cold Sunday night, when people could have just stayed home to watch the match, we were really pleased with trading,” said Andrea.
Like-for-like drink sales during England’s four World Cup fixtures were up about 50 per cent compared with a year ago, while food sales “did not fall off”, he added. In the eight weeks to November 26, like-for-like sales were up 6.8 per cent on last year.
The group also reported that Christmas bookings were slightly ahead of winter 2019, the last festive season unaffected by Covid-19 restrictions.
Overall like-for-like sales in the year to October 1 were only 1 per cent below 2019 levels, despite a disrupted Christmas trading period following the emergence of the Omicron variant last year.
Andrea said if the England team were to progress further in the World Cup, it would provide a “feel-good effect” for sales across the hospitality sector. He added that he expected “fantastic” drink sales next Saturday when the England team plays France for a place in the semi-finals.
Full-year group revenues came to just below £800mn, up from about £402mn last year. Marston’s is targeting sales in excess of £1bn a year by 2026.
Like much of the hospitality sector, Marston’s has been struggling with rising input costs. The pub chain cut its menu size by 35-50 per cent to reduce cost pressures.
The group hedged its electricity costs for the first half of next year and has fixed its gas bill until 2025. Andrea said it would be “incredibly helpful” if the UK government clarified its plans for the next phase of the business energy price cap after the end of March.
Peel Hunt analysts wrote in a note that Marston’s operational strategy was “paying off”. “We believe Marston’s recent positive trading represents an outperformance over the sector, a continuing theme since July,” they said.