Fuller Smith & Turner PLC (AIM:FSTA), the pub and hotel company, will be revealing whether its large London estate helped stimulate strong sales growth over the Christmas period.
Peel Hunt analysts are confident in the group achieving its sales growth guidance of 11% for the full year to March 2024.
The brokerage firm cited higher pricing and recovery in London footfall as a driver for this predicted growth.
London trading in the hospitality sector saw sales lift by 14% in December, outpacing areas outside the capital, which experienced a 10.5% jump year on year, data from S4labour revealed.
However, it should be noted that the 2023 figures were up against weaker comparatives after a string of rail strikes damaged Christmas trading in 2022.
Fuller’s, which has around 50 venues in Central London, is expected to see like-for-like sales fall by 3% when compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to analysts at Peel Hunt.
It comes after first-half trading for the 26 weeks to 30 September was down 4% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Pushing into the 2025 financial year, Fuller’s is expected to see like-for-like sales jump by 4.5% as energy costs fall to £9.5 million from £11.5 million in the 2024 financial year.
Increases to the national living wage and business rates are expected to be headwinds in the upcoming financial year.
Fuller’s shares are up over 35% in the last 12 months at 680p.
It will report its third-quarter update on 25 January.