British beer maker Young & Co’s Brewery is likely to see tougher trading this year, due to inflation and high interest rates, a leading analyst has said, following "impressive" Christmas trading for the firm.
Mark Davies Jones of Stifel was commenting after Young & Co’s, which produces London Original, Double Chocolate Stout and other beers, saw like-for-like sales up 11.6%.
Young & Co’s, which also manages a series of pubs, said that combined like-for-like sales over the three days of Christmas – from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day – were up 10.6%.
'Strong Growth'
"This continues the acceleration seen in late H1 and increases the YTD LFL to +5.5%," Davies Jones commented.
"Looking ahead, this trading strength is still likely to be temporarily offset by the cost inflation triggered by Budget measures, impacting 2026. In addition, interest rates staying higher for longer puts upward pressure on finance costs."
Interest Rates
Davies Jones added that Stifel was keeping its full-year trading forecast for Young & Co’s unchanged, albeit with slightly lower expectations for profit before tax, due to higher interest costs in the UK.
"The group is in very good shape, with more benefits of City improvements to come next year, and very modest valuations given industry-leading growth and margins," he said.
Elsewhere, commenting on the full-year outlook for the group, Simon Dodd, CEO of Young & Co’s, said, "Looking ahead, whilst we remain mindful of the headwinds facing consumers and the wider issues that our industry will encounter from the increase in both National Insurance contributions and National Living Wage, our business is in great shape, and we continue to be optimistic about the year ahead."
