Greene King raises a glass to soaring food sales

Drinkers looking to cool off during the recent summer-like weather have boosted sales at Greene King, the pubs and brewing group that owns Dunbar-based Belhaven.

The group, with nearly 2,500 pubs and restaurants across Britain, said sales at pubs open more than a year had grown by 8.2 per cent over the 16 weeks to 24 April. For the 51 weeks to the same date, comparable sales were up 4.7 per cent.

Suffolk-based Greene King, whose brands include Hungry Horse and Loch Fyne Restaurants, said food was continuing to grow in importance at its pubs, with like-for-like sales up 8.2 per cent over 51 weeks. Food is now expected to account for 40 per cent of this year's sales.

In a trading update to investors, the firm also said its brewing businesses continued to "outperform their markets". Sales volumes of core English ale brands, which include Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale, were reported to be level with the year before while Belhaven Best was up by 1.8 per cent.

Paul Hickman, an analyst at brokerage Peel Hunt, reiterated his "buy" rating, saying: "Greene King is one of few pub companies powering ahead on like-for-like sales as well as active investment and acquisitions. This pre-close shows all three factors actively at work."

Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch also issued "buy" notes on the group.

Greene King said it was adding to its estate with the acquisition of Realpubs, which operates 14 upmarket London bars, for 53.1 million.

Chief executive Rooney Anand added: "The addition of Realpubs takes the total number of Greene King sites within the M25 to 217 and positions us strongly (for] the Olympics in London in 2012, when London and its pubs and restaurants will be visited by tourists from across the world."

The City is expecting Greene King to post annual pre-tax profits of about 140m.