Full Year Results 2019

(For the 52 weeks ended 28 September 2019)

• Strong adjusted profit before tax^a growth, up 10.7%
• Continued market outperformance^b

Reported results

• Total revenue of £2,237m (FY 2018 £2,152m)
• Operating profit of £297m (FY 2018 £255m)
• Profit before tax of £177m (FY 2018 £130m)
• Basic earnings per share 33.5p (FY 2018 24.5p)

Trading results

• Like-for-like sales^a growth of 3.5%
• Adjusted operating profit^a growth of £14m to £317m (FY 2018 £303m)
• Adjusted earnings per share^a growth of 9.1% to 37.2p (FY 2018 34.1p)

Operational highlights

• Strong trading with market outperformance^b and profit growth
• Improved returns from capital programme of 21%, up 5ppts
• Strong performance across the brand portfolio driven by sales initiatives
• Efficiencies resulted in increased operating margin^a of 14.2% (FY 2018 14.1%)

Balance sheet and cash flow

• Capital expenditure of £152m (FY 2018 £171m), including 7 new site openings and 240 conversions and remodels (FY 2018 232)
• Adjusted free cash flow^a of £11m (FY 2018 £(19)m)
• Net debt reduced to £1.56bn (FY 2018 £1.69bn) representing 3.6 times adjusted EBITDA^a (FY 2018 4.0 times)

Phil Urban, Chief Executive, commented:

"These strong results reflect the work we have done over the last few years, first to build sustained sales growth and then to convert that into profit growth. It has been extremely encouraging to see an improvement in like-for-like sales growth across the portfolio during the year, fuelled by our Ignite programme of work. This puts us in a stronger position as we move forward into the next financial year, in what we expect to remain challenging market conditions."