Marston's (LSE:MARS), the UK pub operator with an estate of more than 1,300 sites, said trading in the 42 weeks to 18 July supports the board's confidence in delivering full-year market expectations.
Year-to-date like-for-like sales fell 1.6% against the same period last year, with softer off-peak conditions offsetting strong performance during peak occasions.
England's World Cup matchdays delivered like-for-like sales growth of 22%, and sales across the company's Grandstand-format pubs, its sports-focused conversion concept, jumped roughly 170% year-on-year.
The 36 Grandstand conversions completed so far have generated year-to-date like-for-like sales growth of about 30%, the standout performer among the group's new formats.
Higher-value Order & Pay sales rose 45% year-on-year, which the company linked to continued investment in its customer proposition.
Marston's said margin progression and disciplined cost control now put it on track to hit the EBITDA margin expansion target set at its October 2024 Capital Markets Day within the current financial year, well ahead of schedule, having already delivered more than 200 basis points of expansion over the past two years.
"Our new Grandstand pubs have been leading the way and continue to perform ahead of expectations, while our accelerated investment programme is driving further trading momentum," said chief executive Justin Platt.
The group plans to accelerate investment in FY2027, targeting roughly 100 further conversions focused on the Grandstand format.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Marston's maintained full-year guidance despite year-to-date like-for-like sales falling 1.6%, anchoring confidence to World Cup-driven matchday trading (22% LFL growth on England games) and its Grandstand sports-pub format, which has delivered ~30% LFL growth across 36 completed conversions and ~170% sales uplift year-on-year. The company also signalled it will hit its EBITDA margin expansion target well ahead of schedule, having already delivered over 200 basis points of margin gain in the past two years, and plans to accelerate Grandstand rollout to roughly 100 further conversions in FY2027.
The update reframes near-term softness (off-peak trading weakness) as cyclical rather than structural, and positions Grandstand as a material earnings driver—36 sites generating 30% LFL growth suggest the format can offset broader estate headwinds. Margin acceleration ahead of schedule and a 100-conversion pipeline in FY2027 indicate management confidence in the conversion model's unit economics, though execution risk on that scale remains material.
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