Marston's (LSE:MARS) shares tumbled, falling 6.5% to 47.5p after the company reported H1 results and reaffirmed full-year guidance.
Total revenue fell 1.1% to £422.7m (H1 2025: £427.4m) while underlying EBITDA was maintained at £85.9m and the underlying EBITDA margin rose to 20.3% (H1 2025: 20.1%), or 20.7% excluding closure impacts from rollout activity.
Underlying operating profit increased to £64.4m (H1 2025: £63.3m), recurring free cash flow was a £15.6m outflow (H1 2025: £5.9m inflow) and capital investment totalled £39m, including £13.9m of expansionary capex.
"We have made excellent strategic progress in the first half, delivering a strong profit performance underpinned by further margin expansion," Justin Platt, CEO, said.
The Group completed 60 new-format refurbishments in H1 (91 across FY2025-FY2026), with average ROIC of 35% and post‑conversion like‑for‑like sales up c.20%, while group like‑for‑like sales were down 0.5% for the half and 1.5% over 31 weeks.
Net debt excluding IFRS 16 was £857.7m (H1 2025: £881.1m) with leverage of 4.7x (H1 2025: 4.9x), the Board expects leverage to fall towards c.4.0x by year end and remains confident in delivering the >£50m recurring free cash flow target.
