Mitchells & Butlers reports Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night sales blow

Hallowe'en on a Saturday with parents out chaperoning trick-or-treating kids and Bonfire Night the following weekend were bad news for pub restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers.

Sales for the last eight weeks fell 1.6%, having risen 0.8% in the preceding 12 months from pubs that have been open for at least a year.

“Bookings for 7pm tables on Friday and Saturday nights were hit,” said new chief executive Phil Urban.

“We are also watching whether or not people are saving up to spend their money on Black Friday and hope they will then come back into the pubs for Christmas.”

M&B’s pre-tax profits were flat at £126 million in the year to the end of September on revenues up 6.6% at £2.1 billion.

But the return of a dividend, at 5p a share, for the first time since 2008 lent some cheer to the shares which rose 7.6p to 355.6p.