City Pub says trading has been 'encouraging' since April reopening

Pub operator City Pub Group said on Monday that trading since the reopening of pubs on 12 April had been "encouraging" at 90% of 2019 levels across the 42 locations that it has reopened to date.

City Pub stated it was "already benefitting from the hard work carried out over the past year", with its significantly reduced cost base helping the group trade profitably at today's volumes.

However, City Pub did acknowledge that continued social distancing rules and the absence of large bookings had limited trade, most notably seen at the start of the European Football Championships where many customers chose not to watch live sport at pubs due to distancing restrictions.

The AIM-listed group said it believes that once restrictions are lifted, trade will build over the remainder of the year to above 2019 levels, although it admitted that it was "difficult to predict at this stage exactly when this might happen".

Executive chairman Clive Watson said: "We have been very encouraged by how we have traded since reopening despite the continuing restrictions. We are cash generative and trading profitably demonstrating the strength of our business model.

"I would like to thank personally all our staff and suppliers for their ongoing commitment. We have put in place a strong platform for growth, and we believe that when we are allowed to trade restriction-free we will build to levels higher than 2019."

As of 1125 BST, City Pub shares were down 1.07% at 126.13p.