LONDON (ShareCast) - Young & Co.'s Brewery said it has made a very positive start to the second half of the financial year after it saw revenues rise strongly in the first half.

The company said revenue was up 34% at £90.5m during the six months to October, with adjusted profit before tax up 11% to £12.5m.

However, including exceptional items such as a £29.1m non-cash adjustment to the income statement resulting from a recent estate revaluation, the company posted a loss of £16m, down 247% on the previous year.

Managed house revenue was up 37.9% year-on-year and operating profits were up 23.1%.

Managed house like-for-like (LFL) revenue was up 4.0%, while recently acquired Geronimo Inns saw LFL revenues up 12.6%.

Broker Peel Hunt said the underlying profit before tax figure of £12.5m beat its forecast of £11.7m.

"Mainly as a result of excellent trading in September, Young’s managed Q1’s [first quarter's] LFL growth of 2.7% was exceeded at +4.0% for [the first half] as a whole," the broker noted. "Strong trading was concentrated in prime London sites, clear evidence of the London economy effect. Managed margins in Young’s pubs were maintained," Peel Hunt added.

Adjusted basic earnings per share were up 11% to 18.73p

Young's announced an interim dividend of 6.68p, up 5.0% from the first half of 2010.

Chief executive Stephen Goodyear, said the firm's estate had traded very well, with the recent acquisition of Geronimo proving a success, and its hotels business showing further strong growth.

Young's bought privately-owned Geronimo Inns for £60m in cash last December to expand its London-focused pubs estate.

"Our decision to focus on an estate of premium managed houses, primarily in London and the south of England, is clearly paying off and will help to insulate us against the worst of any further economic downturn," he said.

"We anticipate a healthy pipeline of opportunities, using our balance sheet strength, to grow further in line with this strategy."

"Trading performance in the early weeks of the second half has continued in a positive vein, and we remain confident in our ability to deliver further long term growth in shareholder value," he said.

Peel Hunt responded to the interim results by upgrading its full-year profit before tax forecast by 2% to £21.0m, and its earnings per share estimate by 1% to 31.5p.

"The uplift results mainly from lower forecast interest costs, although we are reducing our expectations for margin growth in Young’s managed houses," the broker said.

The company's non-voting shares rose 10p to 525p following the figures but the "A" shares were unchanged at 632.25p.

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