Shares in Mitchells & Butlers were down on the FTSE 250 in morning trading, after the group reported a pre-tax loss after exceptional items in the full year ended 25 September.

Revenue at the group was reported as rising 1.1 per cent to just under two billion pounds, while pre-tax profit jumped 26.1 per cent to £169 million. However after exceptional items the group went from a profit of £10 million to a loss of £127 million.

The group said that retained estate like for like sales rose 2.8 per cent, while like for like food and drink sales increased 4.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.

During the one year period Mitchells & Butlers spent £138 on capital expenditure, of which £28 million went on acquisitions and expansionary capital. Despite this net debt was reported as falling from £2.6 billion to £2.3 billion.

Mitchells & Butlers said it would not be paying a dividend but is fully committed to resuming dividends should operating cash flow improve.

In an outlook statement the group said, "The outlook for consumer spending remains uncertain in light of government spending cuts and the VAT increase in January. However, the strength of Mitchells & Butlers' brands, the effectiveness of its marketing platform, its operational capabilities and strong capex returns underpin the Board's confidence in the Company's prospects."

Adam Fowle, Chief Executive of Mitchells & Butlers, said, "We have delivered a very good set of results in challenging economic conditions with earnings per share up 26%. Excellent progress has been made against our strategic goal to turn Mitchells & Butlers into a food-led business by concentrating our industry leading brands on the informal eating-out market. This strategy continues to prove effective with 7% like-for-like food sales growth in the first eight weeks driven by customers trading up the menu. The Company now has a strong balance sheet which, coupled with our brands and resilient trading platform, underpins our confidence in the future."

By 10:35 shares in Mitchells & Butlers were down 4.52 per cent on the FTSE 250 to 337.80 pence per share.

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