Hot weather and a royal wedding have done little for beer sales at London-based brewer Fuller Smith & Turner PLC (LON:FSTA).
Since March, volumes of beer and cider have dropped by 3%, though Fuller’s says the comparative period was exceptionally strong.
Helped by food and accommodation, sales at managed pubs and hotels are up 2.5% like-for-like with tenanted profits 2% higher.
A good performance from its tenanted and managed outlets also kept profits moving forward in the year to March.
Sales rose by 5% to £403.6mln. while underlying profits were 3% higher at £43.2mln.
Crafty buys
Fuller’s has been building its presence in the fast-growing craft beer market.
Dark Star Brewery in Sussex was acquired in February, while Fuller’s is opening a pilot at its 170 year-old Chiswick Brewery to challenge the raft of new start-ups in the capital.
London has seen an explosion of microbreweries using different hop varieties, such as those made by Kernel and Fourpure - both of which are on the so-called ‘Bermondsey Mile’ of beer producers.
The pilot at the Griffin brewery will allow its brewers to experiment and create many more limited-edition brews, Fuller’s said.
The dividend for 2018 rise by 4% to 19.55p.