Record Christmas Day sales for Wolverhampton pub chain Marston's as firm delivers trading update

During the key festive trading period - defined as the two weeks which include the five key trading days of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day - like-for-like sales were up by just over 11%.

Meanwhile, total retail sales in the Group’s managed and partnership pubs for the 16-week period up to January 18 jumped by 3%, driven by growth in both food and drink sales, the company confirmed in a trading update.

Like-for-like sales during the same period were up +2.0%, reflecting strong trading over the festive period, which the firm said was offset by poor weather conditions in November and January.

In the update issued to shareholders at today's Annual General meeting (January 21), company CEO Justin Platt said the results demonstrated the "continued appeal of Marston’s community-based estate and leading product offering."

"I am pleased to report a solid first quarter performance for Marston’s, with a particularly strong key festive trading period, achieving record sales on Christmas Day,” he said.

"We are excited for the year ahead as we build on this performance through the successful execution of our refocused strategy, driving revenue growth through event driven marketing and the roll out of our differentiated pub formats.

"We remain well placed to deliver FY25 market expectations and the guidance set out at our October 2024 Capital Markets Day."

The results came despite a decision to raise prices ahead of festive trading, which saw some draught beers go up by around 10p per pint, which the company said was in the context of increased costs and "difficult trading conditions" in the UK hospitality industry. 

In December last year, the company announced a return to profit following a £30.6m loss in 2023, reporting pre-tax profits of £14.4 million and underlying growth of 64.5%, which it attributed mainly to selling off its stake in Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company.