Mitchells & Butlers report 'strong results'

May 22, 2007: Trading is "in line with expectations" say Mitchells & Butlers, reporting an operating profit of £161m for the 28 weeks to April 14.

The 12.6% growth was welcomed by chief executive Tim Clarke, who said: "These strong results, with earnings per share up 15.6%, reflect our leadership position in the growing eating-out market and significant gains in our drinks market share.

"Our average weekly sales per managed pub are up by 7.6%, with a strong underlying margin performance.

"We are now serving almost 100 million meals a year. We are successfully converting the pubs purchased from Whitbread last year and are well on
track to deliver the targets set out at the time of the acquisition. We remain confident in our future growth prospects.”