Turnover was up 8.2% to £60.8m from the previous £56.2m. Beer volume was up 7.9% while managed house like-for-like retail sales rose 2.4%. Like-for-like food sales increased by 5.3%.

Operating profit before exceptionals rose 17.2% to £6.4m. Profit before tax was up 38.5% to £4.9m.

Earnings per share rose 38.6% to 28.7p from 20.7p. The company raised its interim dividend by 4.4% to 4.75p from 4.55p.

Chairman Miles Templeman said, 'This has been a good trading period for the company with record turnover, record beer volume and strong net cash inflow from operating activities. All parts of our core business have performed strongly and we have consolidated recent investments very satisfactorily.

'Nonetheless, we remain cautious about the impact on consumer expenditure of further potential rises in excise duty, VAT and other taxes over the next year or two and by the impact of further potential regulation on the sector.'

Story provided by Business Financial Newswire