Mitchells & Butlers Q3 Sales Down On Weak Food Sales; Backs Lower Margin View

(RTTNews) - Mitchells & Butlers Plc. (MAB.L, MLB), an operator of managed restaurants and pubs, reported Wednesday that its total third-quarter sales edged down 0.7 percent with a 1.5 percent drop in food sales. This was partly offset by a 0.2 percent increase in sales of drinks.

The company noted that sales since the half year have been more encouraging. Poor weather in June and Euro 2016 have had an expected adverse impact.

Total sales in the first 43 weeks of the financial year fell by 1.3%.

As announced earlier, margins in the second half are expected to be lower than last year, due particularly to the introduction of the National Living Wage in April.

Phil Urban, Chief Executive, said, "Underlying trading has improved in recent months, particularly when taking into account the negative impact of Euro 2016 and the wet weather seen in June. This reflects the good progress we are making across our three priority areas: to rebalance the business, to instil a commercial culture and to increase the pace of execution and innovation."