Mitchells & Butlers Q4-to-date LFL Sales Up; Confident Of FY Outturn In Line With Consensus View

(RTTNews) - Mitchells & Butlers PLC (MAB.L, MLB), an operator of managed restaurants and pubs, reported Thursday that its like-for-like or LFL sales in the fourth quarter to date grew 3.1 percent from last year.

In its trading update, the company noted that fourth-quarter to date sales were benefited by 3.4 percent rise in food sales and 1.9 percent increase in drink sales.

Total sales in the 51-week year to date have increased by 3.9 percent on a reported basis and 4.2 percent on LFL basis. Food sales grew 4.1 percent and drink sales increased 4 percent in the year-to-date period.

Looking ahead, the company said it remains confident of a full-year outturn in line with consensus expectations, reflecting a year of strong sales outperformance.

Further ahead, in the next year, the company continues to anticipate a higher level of overall cost inflation of around 130 million pounds or around 6 percent of its cost base, as announced earlier.

Phil Urban, Chief Executive, said, "We are pleased with our performance over the year, in which we remained consistently ahead of the market, across all market segments. Sales growth has been broad based, with strong like-for-like performances in both food and drink across our portfolio of brands, supported by cost efficiencies and a capital programme which continues to deliver strong returns."