SOUTHWOLD-based Adnams today reported a near-150% increase in headline annual profits.

SOUTHWOLD-based Adnams today reported a near-150% increase in headline annual profits.

Turnover for the year to December 31 grew by 4.3%, from £54.57million in 2011 to £56.92m last year, with operating profits rising by 3.5%, from £3.27m to £3.39m.

At the bottom line, however, pre-tax profits showed an increase of 145%, coming in at £3.184m against £1.29million the previous year, with the rise largely reflected one-off charges of £1.67million which were set against the 2011 results.

Adnams, whose interests include brewing, distilling, hotels, pubs and retailing, reported a 3.8% increase in beer volumes and a 3.3% rise in like-for-like sales at its Cellar & Kitchen stores.

Chairman Jonathan Adnams said the business's performance in 2012 had proved robust despite the challenging market conditions and that, while conditions continued to be tough, the company remained committed to building for the long-term.

'Adnams enjoyed a good year in 2012, despite the challenges of tough markets and lack of economic growth,' he said.

'Adnams prides itself on doing the right thing, regardless of the market conditions. With this in mind, we were delighted to have received two very prestigious third-party endorsements during 2012.

' At the start of the year, we were awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the second time that we have won this award. At the end of the year, we also received Investors in People Gold, which is testament to the processes, procedures and support that we provide for our people and for their development.

'The markets that Adnams operates in have been challenging and this hasn't been helped by external factors such as government policy or indeed the poor British weather.

'We have continued to support our customers throughout these difficult times by holding Adnams beer prices. 2013 will be the fifth consecutive year that we have held the price of Adnams beer (with the exception of duty) to our tied estate and free-trade customers.

' We welcomed the Chancellor's decision to reduce beer duty by 2% and scrap the 'beer duty escalator', a policy that has been extremely harmful to beer and pubs.'

Mr Adnams added: '2012 was a difficult year for the economy, but we came through it well and achieved both beer volume and good profit growth. We did many of the right things to improve in 2012 and we believe that our long-term view will continue to hold us in good stead over the years to come.'

Adnams' final dividend will rise by 2.4%, from £1.25 to £1.28 per share.