Pubs and brewing group Greene King, the second-largest member of the Top 100, last year reported a 58% jump in annual turnover following its 'transformational' acquisition of the Spirit Pub Company.
And Bury St Edmunds-based Greene King appears to be on track to report further growth in its next full-year figures, due on June 29, with revenues from both its flagship retail pubs division and its leased and tenanted estate having been ahead year-on-year at the 40-week stage.
The £773m acquisition of Spirit has made Greene King the UK's largest operator of directly managed pubs and drove its revenues for the 52 weeks to May 1, 2016, to £2.073bn.
Group operating profits before exceptional items grew by 53.1% to £392.3m, driven by a 56.8% increase within the key retail pubs estate where operating profits totalled £299.2m.
The smaller leased and tenanted pubs division saw operating profits grow even more strongly, by 58% to £85.3m while the group's brewing business, which has benefited from the addition of the Spirit estate, saw operating profits increase by 9.7% to £32.7m.
Statutory bottom line profits grew by 60.6% to £189.8m, with adjusted pre-tax profits, excluding exceptional items, 52.2% higher at £256.5m
Speaking at the time of the annual results, Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand said: 'It has been a transformational year for Greene King. We completed the acquisition of Spirit Pub Company and reached the milestone of £2bn revenue.
'We have delivered growth across each of the three divisions, outperforming the market in a challenging environment while making significant progress in combining the best of both businesses to build Britain's best pub company.'
In its interim results for the 24 weeks to October 16, Greene King posted a 13.8% increase in group-wide revenues to £1.044bn – the first time its turnover for the first half has topped £1bn.
The included a 15.6% increase within its managed pubs, restaurants and hotels business – which includes brands such as Hungry Horse, Farmhouse Inns, Chef & Brewer and Flaming Grill – where sales totalled £855.9m.
Revenue from Greene King's leased and tenanted pubs estate rose by 14% to £93.6m, although sales for its brewing and brands business dipped by 0.6% to £94.8m.
In its most recent trading update, Greene King said sales within its retail division were up by 1.1% on a like-for-like basis in the 40 weeks to February 5, helped by like-for-like growth of 4.5% over the Christmas period.
Like-for-like net income at the leased and tenanted pubs business was 3.5% up at the 40-week stage, although own-brewed beer volumes were down 4.2%.
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