(Sharecast News) - Toby Carvery owner Mitchells & Butlers said it expected annual earnings to be at the top end of estimates, adding that underlying sales in the last 10 weeks had risen 6%.


The updated outlook came as M&B posted a 10.4% jump in half-year operating profits to £181m. Pre-tax earnings rose to £134m from £108m, while revenue increased to £1.45bn from £1.4bn.

"Looking forward we expect the market to remain robust and believe we are well placed to continue to outperform," the company said on Thursday.

"Looking forward to full-year 2026 we will have annualisation of labour cost increases, plus further increases in statutory thresholds which we would expect to exceed the general level of inflation."

"These, combined with recent indications of high increases in food costs, notably meat, lead us to anticipate a higher level of overall inflation probably approaching £130m, representing slightly less than 6% of our cost base before mitigation."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

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