Young’s raised its full-year expectations after like-for-like sales rose 6.4% across the 26 weeks to 28 September 2026. The London pub group reported turnover up 10.4%, helped by record weather and the men’s football World Cup, and said it has completed the integration of the Cubitt House acquisition.
Young’s issued the trading statement on 30 September 2026, ahead of its interim results on 12 November 2026. Like-for-like sales accelerated to 7.9% over the final 13 weeks of the half-year, and garden and riverside pubs did better than the group average, with like-for-like sales up 7.5%.
During the period the group also moved from AIM to the London Stock Exchange Main Market. Management now expects the full-year performance to exceed previous expectations, although it has not yet published profit, margin or debt figures for the half, nor the size of the estate at the period end.
Weather and football drive the summer
Young’s attributed the half to favourable conditions across the summer. Simon Dodd, chief executive of Young’s, said: “Boosted by excellent trading across the summer months, supported by the record weather and exciting sporting events, Young’s has delivered another period of outstanding performance.”
Garden and riverside sites are the clearest beneficiaries in the figures, with the 7.5% like-for-like gain sitting above the 6.4% group number for the whole 26 weeks. Young’s runs its pubs itself rather than through operators, unlike the brands recruiting across the UK franchise directory.
Cubitt House and the move to the Main Market
Young’s said the integration of Cubitt House, the London business it acquired, was completed during the period. The group also switched from AIM to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, and the statement gives no detail on what the change means for the group’s reporting.
The statement does not give the number of pubs in the enlarged estate, and the interim results on 12 November are the next scheduled publication.
Turnover and like-for-like are different measures
Like-for-like sales compare sites that traded in both periods, while total turnover also reflects acquisitions and openings. Young’s reported 10.4% turnover growth and 6.4% like-for-like growth for the same 26 weeks.
The comparison with the previous half-year
A year earlier, the equivalent half-year to 29 September 2025 produced turnover of £263.6 million, up 5.4%, with like-for-like drinks sales up 6.5%, food up 3.8% and rooms up 4.0%.
On that base, a 10.4% rise would imply turnover of roughly £291 million, although that is arithmetic rather than a figure Young’s has published. With like-for-like sales at 6.4% for the half and 7.9% for the second 13 weeks, the first 13 weeks must have run below the half-year average.
What the interim results will add
The results on 12 November will be the first occasion on which Young’s can publish the profit, margin, net debt and estate figures that the trading statement leaves out. Other pub operators reporting in the same week describe a similar summer: Shepherd Neame reported like-for-like retail sales up 6.7% in the 13 weeks to 26 September.
The two groups differ in size and in London weighting, so the figures are not directly comparable, but both describe a strong summer for their pubs. What each route into running a pub commits an operator to is set out in how to open a pub in the UK.
