London, July 2 - British pubs group Greene King posted a smaller-than-expected fall in full-year profit and said it had benefited from an upturn in trading in recent weeks, driven by a sharp increase in sales of food.
Greene King, which has around 2,500 pubs in England and Scotland, on Thursday said pretax profit for the year to May 3 fell 15 percent to 118.5 million pounds ($194.8 million) on revenues 1.3 percent higher at 954.6 million pounds.
Analysts, on average, expected Greene King to post a profit of 116 million pounds for the year, according to Reuters Estimates.
The company, which recently raised 207.5 million pounds through a rights issue to acquire pubs from struggling rivals and buy back debt, held the final dividend at 15.1 pence per share.
"The funds raised by our recent rights issue will further strengthen our position through selective acquisitions. Although the outlook remains uncertain, current trading is encouraging and we look forward with cautious optimism," Greene King Chief Executive Rooney Anand said in a statement.
Britain's pubs have been plagued by dire trading conditions as a toxic mix of the recession, above-inflation tax rises, miserable weather last summer, and cheap booze offers in supermarkets combined to keep drinkers at home.
($1=.6082 Pound)