STUART Ross, head of Dunbar-based brewer and pub operator Belhaven, will bow out on a high note after parent company Greene King hailed a strong full-year performance at the firm's Scottish division.
The managing director, who joined Belhaven almost 20 years ago and is due to retire this autumn, oversaw a 34 per cent increase in food sales, which helped boost Belhaven's operating profits by 18 per cent for the 53 weeks to 4 May.
Overall, Green
e King's pre-tax profits lifted 2 per cent to £142m – ahead of market expectations. Group revenues also headed north – rising 5 per cent to £960.5m. Food sales were up 31 per cent during the year and now account for more than a third of total sales.
Greene King, which brews Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale, said it was confident of meeting City expectations for the current year. The consensus for pre-tax profit stands at £139m.
The group swallowed Loch Fyne Restaurants last summer, and said yesterday that the 42-strong chain had helped boost sales at its Greene King retail arm by 6 per cent to £578.7m – while operating profit at the division was up 5 per cent to £116.5m.
The firm, which has about 2,500 pubs in England and Scotland, said that despite the UK beer market declining by 5 per cent, it had increased both its market share and absolute volumes in all of its brands. Volumes of supermarket off-sales of Old Speckled Hen rose 28 per cent.
But overall, revenues and operating profits at Greene King's brewing arm fell 3 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively. It warned that pub beer sales had come under "considerable" pressure amid falling consumer confidence, the English smoking ban and raw material cost increases.
The best performance came from Belhaven, which Greene King noted had increased food sales in its pub estate by more than 50 per cent in the two years since the introduction of the smoking ban north of the Border. Greene King bought Belhaven for £187m in 2005.
The Scottish division operates 321 pubs – up from 299 the previous year, including seven pubs transferred from the English retail business just before the financial year end.
Group chief executive Rooney Anand said: "Although all our divisions have performed well in difficult circumstances, I am particularly encouraged by Belhaven's result.
"Scotland's smoking ban came over a year before England's. In the second year of the ban, the Belhaven team have developed the business significantly towards food and families."
He said increased food sales had come from the repositioning of a number of specialist pubs "to appeal to a broader consumer base".
Anand paid tribute to Ross, who was involved in a management buyout of the firm in 1993.
He said of Ross: "Since he joined the Greene King top team at the time of the acquisition, the whole business has benefited extensively from his experience and exceptional talent. On a personal level, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Stuart for his commitment and support, and for his professional execution of the integration and ongoing development of the Belhaven business."
Greene King said it had begun a recruitment process to find a replacement for Ross, but added that he was to stay on in an advisory capacity.
Sales of the flagship Belhaven Best beer were up 4.6 per cent.
Shares in Greene King rose 8.2 per cent to 433.25p yesterday.
The full article contains 593 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
