UK's Mitchells & Butlers upbeat on annual results despite slowdown in Q4 sales growth
Adds share move in paragraph 2, details on sector peers in paragraphs 9 and 10
Sept 26 (Reuters) -UK's Mitchells & Butlers MAB.L forecast on Thursday annual results at the upper end of market forecasts, buoyed by easing cost pressures, after the pub group flagged a slowdown in like-for-like sales growth in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year.
Shares in the FTSE 250 .FTMC company rose 1.7% to 302 pence in early trade.
Pub groups, hit hard by the pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis, are more optimistic now as costs ease and customers become more confident about their spending.
Mitchells CEO Phil Urban said sales growth had continued to normalise amid an easing in cost pressures.
The company said net costs will reduce to about 55 million pounds ($73.4 million) in the financial year ending Sept. 28, helped by deflation in energy costs and slowing food cost inflation.
The Birmingham-based group said sales growth remained ahead of the market in the fourth quarter, and the total year-to-date sales rose by 5.9%.
The company's like-for-like sales grew 2.5% in the fourth quarter, compared to 3.4% growth in the previous quarter and 6.1% in the second-quarter period.
The owner of the Toby Carvery, Harvester, and All Bar One brands said the sales growth rate in the fourth quarter slowed compared to the previous three quarters, partly hurt by an unseasonably wet summer and disruptions caused by riots in Britain in August.
Mitchell's sector peer J D Wetherspoon JDW.L also posted in July a slowdown in sales growth in the first 10 weeks of the fourth quarter, but still hit record levels despite a drop in pub numbers throughout the year.
Another key player Marston's posted in July a 2.4% rise in like-for-like sales for the 16-week period, helped by fans who gathered at its pubs to watch the European soccer championship.
($1 = 0.7492 pounds)
Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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