Greene King (LON:GNK) toasted a record year in a tough market and reported a steady start to the new financial year.
The brewer of IPA and Old Speckled Hen said revenue rose 3% to £1.3bn in the 52 weeks to May 3, although pre-tax profit excluding one-off items fell 0.8% to £168.5mln.
It blamed slower like-for-like (LFL) sales growth and the disposal of 275 pubs to Hawthorn Leisure for the lower profits.
Retail like-for-like (LFL) sales gained 0.4%, the group's Pub Partners business lifted LFL net income by 3.5% and its brewing & brands division's own-brewed volume (OBV) rose 4.2%.
The group completed its acquisition of Spirit Pub Company after the end of the year and said its integration into the group was already underway.
Greene King said trading in the first eight weeks was steady with retail LFL sales up 0.6%, Pub Partners LFL net income rising 1.2% but brewing & brands OBV falling 3.7%.
Chief executive Rooney Anand said Greene King had had another record year in a tough trading environment.
"We have delivered good underlying growth across all parts of the business with retail generating revenue of over £1bn for the first time," he said.
"Underlying earnings growth of over 9% has enabled a dividend increase of 4.8%, reflecting our confidence in the strength of the business and its prospects for future growth."