Wholesaler’s Weekly – An Alcohol Industry Update (13.11.2023)

Welcome to this week’s alcohol industry update with 7 Day Cellar. In this week’s edition, we look at results of JD Wetherspoon’s financial year following disposals of some of its pubs, Admiral Taverns’ financial year reports alongside CGA figures tracking the hospitality industry…

Wetherspoons reports that like-for-like sales in the first 14 weeks of the financial year were 9.5% higher than the same time last year, with bar sales up by 10.7% and food by 8.2%. Overall, they are up by 8.1% in the year to date – but this figure is dampened by closures and disposals. In September, like-for-like sales in the industry were up 5.9% year on year compared to 9.4% for Wetherspoons – with the pub operator outperforming the industry tracker for 13 consecutive months. This growth in sales is due to ‘a combination of price and volume’.

Additionally, Wetherspons has raised the price of its 2023 Christmas dinner by 13% – in line with price increases on all other food this year.

However, UK food price inflation has dropped below 10% for the first time in over a year, hitting 9.7% in October. This is down from 11% in September and is the first time it has been below 10% since July 2022. Kantar suggests this is due to fierce competition amongst grocery retailers, who have increased promotions and deals.

The MCA reports that Revolution Bars Group sees ‘huge’ growth potential for its recently acquired Peach Pubs business. CEO Rob Pitcher discusses how there will be a focus on premiumisation and outdoor spaces.

Barclaycard has reported on consumer spending in October, growing just 2.6% year on year – a decline in real terms.

Oakman Inn owns a portfolio of 42 pubs and restaurants across the UK, with their CEO, Peter Borg-Neal, reporting improving sales and profits in a letter to shareholders. This is followed by enhancing pricing, cutting costs and optimising labour to address sector challenges. The group is assessing the possibility of a £10M loan and a liquidity event in 2024 enabled by refinancing – which does not exclude a sale of the group.

Admiral Taverns reports revenue up 18% YoY to £182m for the year ended 28 May 2023, with EBITDA up 15% to £55.8m driven by ‘robust growth’ in H1.

Loungers, a lounge operator running over 242 neighbourhood café-bars across England and Wales under the Lounge and Cosy Club brands, is set to roll out 34 new sites in the current financial year. This includes new premises in Carlisle, Louth and Oxford.

Soho House & Co Inc has reported Q3 numbers in the US saying that membership grew to 255,252 from 248,071 in Q2 and by 20.8% year-over-year. Net revenue is up 13.1% year on year to $301M, with adjusted EBITDA nearly doubling to $42.1M from $21.8M.