Young’s eyes further expansion as portfolio value rises

Pub company Young’s has vowed to continue its expansion as the value of its portfolio rose. Announcing its final results for the year to the end of March this morning, the pub company said it had pulled in revenue of £369m, up nearly 20% from last year’s £309m. Pretax profit was down 14% to £36.2m due to rising costs and the impact of strike action. Chief executive Simon Dodd said that more acquisitions and developments were on the horizon. “We continue to have one eye on the future, ensuring we have a steady pipeline of new openings,” he said. “We find ourselves living in challenging times, including headwinds from high inflation and the resumption of train strikes, but there is plenty for us to be excited about in the period ahead. “The investments and acquisitions made in the last two years, alongside our future pipeline, provide tremendous growth potential.” Young’s spent £34.4m on its existing estate over the year to upgrade a total of 34 pubs. It also added six new pubs in the period, giving it a total estate of 227 pubs, 187 of which are freehold or long leaseholds with peppercorn rents. But while much commercial real estate has suffered steep valuation slides over the year, pub values have continued to rise. Young’s benefitted from a net valuation rise of £8.2m, with the total owned estate now valued at £842.5m, up from £808m the previous year. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Photo © Heloise Bergman/Shutterstock