Australia’s largest drinks and hospitality business, the recently listed Endeavour Group (ASX:EDV), has announced its first end of financial year results, finding a less than positive reaction.
After splitting from parent company Woolworths (ASX:WOW) in June, Endeavour hit the open market boasting a portfolio of 1,643 retail stores and 339 hotels under Australian Leisure & Hospitality (ALH).
The announcement detailed a year “characterised by the disruption” of the pandemic, noting one or more of ALH’s hotels closed on 169 days, and 83 exposure sites.
Despite this, group sales were up 9.3 per cent, group EBIT up 22.1 per cent and Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) $445 million. This was driven by the hotels, seeing sales up 7.3 per cent to $1.4 billion and EBIT up by 49.1 per cent to $261 million.
EDV reports significant ‘investment for the future’, seeing investment in the hotels food and beverage experience through contactless ordering and payment, renewed leases at 64 stores and 26 hotels and expansion into 33 more retail stores and five more hotels. Gaming hardware has been updated in 500 EGMs across the portfolio.
Steve Donohue, Endeavour Group managing director and CEO, hopes fully vaccinated patrons will soon be able to return to pubs and says they are open to working with governments on this, as EDV works to stay connected to the market.
“I’m proud of the way the team demonstrated agility and resilience over this period, which not only enabled us to constantly optimise our operations but also raised the bar in terms of innovation and remaining connected to our communities.”
Shareholders have not reacted positively to the news. Hitting the ASX in June at $6.02, shares climbed as high as $7.36 but settled before the announcement at $7.05. They closed down another 1.28 per cent today, at $6.96.