Brewer Greene King accelerates disposal of non-core pubs

LONDON (Reuters) - British pub and breweries group Greene King sold 275 tenanted and leased pubs for 75.6 million pounds ($127.66 million) on Thursday and said it would accelerate disposals to concentrate on its faster-growing own-managed outlets. Greene King, which runs the Hungry Horse chains and makes Old Speckled Hen ale, said the British pubs had been sold to Hawthorn Leisure, backed by Avenue Capital Group and May Capital LLP, alongside a three-year deal for Greene King to supply ale. The group had committed to reducing its tenanted and leased estate to 1,200 sites but Chief Executive Rooney Anand said on Thursday that it now expects the number to fall to 750 sites. It currently has about 890 tenanted and leased pubs, against a managed estate of around 1,030. "We believe that a smaller estate than originally envisaged is now more appropriate going forward as we move increasingly to higher-growth areas in our markets and to improve the customer offer," Anand said in a statement. Greene King is placing a greater focus on its own-managed retail business, comprising restaurants, hotels and pubs, as it competes for a bigger slice of the burgeoning dining market. On Wednesday Greene King said it would meet full-year forecasts after strong sales growth had continued in its fourth quarter. Like-for-like sales in its managed estate were up 4.8 percent in the past 16 weeks and 4.1 percent for the year. The group is expected to post a 2013/14 full-year pretax profit of 172 million pounds, up 6 percent on the year before, according to Reuters data. The pubs sold achieved annual core earnings of 12.4 million pounds, implying a disposal multiple of 6.1 times earnings. Shares in Greene King were down 1.7 percent to 875 pence in early trading on Thursday. (Reporting by Neil Maidment; Editing by David Goodman)