(Reuters) -British pub group Marston’s on Wednesday said it expects to report annual pre-tax profit higher than market expectations, as revenue management and efficiency initiatives lift margins despite slowing sales.
Faced with renewed pressures from consumers tightening their spending amid persistent inflation, Marston’s has turned to artificial intelligence to help manage the productivity of its staff and operations.
For the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025, like-for-like sales grew 1.6%, far slower than the 4.8% growth posted the previous year.
The sluggish sales growth echoes the experience of rivals like J D Wetherspoon and Mitchells & Butlers, which both reported slower sales recently, highlighting the pressures in the hospitality sector.
Wolverhampton-based Marston’s said plans to accelerate refurbishments to its pubs over the next 12 months to drive growth.
Analysts on average expect the company to report an underlying pre-tax profit of 67.2 million pounds ($89.99 million) for fiscal 2025, according to a company compiled consensus. In 2024, underlying pre-tax profit was at 42.1 million pounds.
(Reporting by Nithyashree R B and Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru)
