It’s a grim time for the pub sector which is desperately looking ahead to the summer and the World Cup for a fiscal boost. At Greene King, it just needs a quick look back at 2025 to build its own confidence having put in a defiant and “robust” performance over the year. With both revenues and operating profits up, last year was a pretty impressive showing against all the economic odds.
Greene King has reported revenue for the year to 4 January was up 3.6 percent to £2.5bn, with operating profit up 9.8 percent to £217m, after the pub group focused on “efficiency improvements and tight control to mitigate cost pressures.”
The “robust” performance included strong summer and Christmas trading, as well as “record levels of returns” from investment in 200 of its UK venues, including a 26.5 percent increase in customer engagement.
“In 2025, we focused on what was within our control, ensuring disciplined execution against our strategy and targeted investment, while delivering outstanding experiences for our customers,” said CEO Nick Mackenzie.
“Our performance reflects the quality of our pubs, underpinned by the strength of our operating model and the commitment of our teams who are the backbone of our business.”
During the period, Greene King was able to reduce its statutory pre-tax loss from £147.1m to £23.4m, despite the “uncertain longer-term outlook for the hospitality industry” adding a £125.6m non-cash property accounting impairment, alongside CapEx investiture of £219m.
“There are still significant headwinds facing the industry, and these will only grow as inflationary pressures rise once again.”
“Long-term permanent reform from the government is therefore essential to ensure that unprecedented costs do not hold back the enormous potential of the sector.”
A Greene economy
Nick Mackenzie said… “Our performance reflects the quality of our pubs, underpinned by the strength of our operating model and the commitment of our teams who are the backbone of our business…
