Shepherd Neame
Interim results for the 26 weeks to 27 December 2025
Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewer and owner and operator of high quality pubs in Kent and the Southeast, today announces its results for the 26 weeks ended 27 December 2025.
This has been another strong period for our pubs, with an exceptional performance from our London Retail pubs in particular and good trading in our Tenanted estate, offset by volume declines in Brewing and Brands and higher costs of logistics. We have continued to make positive progress against our strategic goals in the first half, completing two major pub projects in London and further investment in repositioning our brand portfolio.
- Revenue for the period was £84.7m (H1 2025[1]: £85.0m), with increased revenues in our pub estate offset by a decline in the Brewing and Brands division
- Statutory profit before tax was up +2.7% at £4.4m (H1 2025: £4.3m)
- Underlying profit before tax[2] was in line with the previous year at £4.2m (H1 2025: £4.2m)
- Cashflow remains robust. Underlying EBITDA[3] grew by +0.8% to £13.1m (H1 2025: £13.0m)
- Basic earnings per share were 21.0p (H1 2025: 20.3p). Underlying basic earnings per share[4] were 20.3p (H1 2025: 20.1p)
- Investment has continued in the business, with £6.2m of capital expenditure, which included two significant projects in London: The White Horse and Bower in Westminster, and The Hoop and Grapes in Farringdon
- Net assets per share[5] have increased to £12.34 (H1 2025: £12.21)
- An interim dividend of 4.50p has been declared (2025: 4.35p), an increase of +3.4%
- The Company has successfully refinanced its bank debt on improved terms, securing a new £15m term loan facility and a £30m revolving credit facility. Combined with the existing £55m private placement funding, this brings the total available facilities to £100m
Operational Performance
| Performance H1 2026 vs H1 2025 | |
| Total retail like-for-like sales[6] | +4.5% |
| Like-for-like Tenanted pub income[7] | +3.1% |
| Total beer volume[8] | -6.6% |
| Own beer volume[9] | -11.6% |
Operational Highlights
Retail
- Retail like-for-like sales inside the M25 were up +11.2% (H1 2025: +9.0%) and outside the M25 up +1.4% (H1 2025: +2.3%)
- For the adjusted Christmas period, for the five weeks to 3 January 2026, like-for-like Retail sales were up +8.1%
- Retail like-for-like drink sales up +5.6% vs H1 2025
- Retail like-for-like food sales up +4.3% vs H1 2025
- Total occupancy was down at 70.2% (H1 2025: 74.6%) and revenue per available room was £91 (H1 2025: £94)
- Divisional revenue in our Retail pubs was up +0.1% at £42.3m (H1 2025: £42.3m) and divisional underlying operating profit was up +5.8% at £5.8m (H1 2025: £5.5m)
Tenanted
- Divisional revenue in Tenanted pubs was up +4.8% to £19.0m (H1 2025: £18.2m) and divisional underlying operating profit was £6.4m (H1 2025: £6.6m)
Brewing and Brands
- Divisional revenue in Brewing and Brands was down -4.7% to £22.7m (H1 2025: £23.8m) and divisional underling operating profit was £0.3m (H1 2025: £0.6m)
Current Trading and Outlook:
| Performance versus 2025[10] | |
| 35 weeks to 28 February like-for-like Tenanted pub income7 | +3.0% |
| 37 weeks to 14 March Retail like-for-like sales6 | +4.4% |
| 37 weeks to 14 March total beer8 volume | -6.7% |
| 37 weeks to 14 March own beer9 volume | -11.3% |
Jonathan Neame, CEO of Shepherd Neame, said:
“Demand has remained resilient, with a further exceptional performance from our London pubs, and a good trading performance in our Tenanted estate. Our strong pub trading and some easing of cost pressures gives us cause for optimism going forward, but some caution is naturally warranted given the situation in the Middle East.”