Belhaven owner Greene King has reported continued rising sales at its Scottish pubs even as it struggled elsewhere.
Overall the company, which makes Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen, reported a 0.1% decline in like-for-like sales at its managed pubs in the 38 weeks to January 20.
The firm said the recent trading environment "has become more challenging" and that while its 800 pubs saw increased sales during Christmas on peak days such as Hogmanay, trading on other days was "more subdued".
This dismayed analysts who had been hoping that a revamp of its managed pubs division into smaller segments with new management would lead to a resurgence.
In contrast, north of the border, where it has 300 outlets, Greene King said that managed pub like-for-like sales were above those of the previous year. Volumes of its flagship beer, Belhaven Best, were up 5.6%.
Greene King bought Belhaven, based in Dunbar, East Lothian, in 2005 for £187m, and the company has been benefiting from rapidly rising food sales at its 300 pubs in Scotland that have traditionally been more drinks-focused than the rest of its UK estate.
In common with other parts of the sector that have reported top-end establishments are doing well. Greene King said its Loch Fyne chain, which is focused on the south-east of England, had a 2.3% increase in like-for-like sales.
It bought the chain for £68.1m in the summer, saying it planned to double its number of outlets to around 70. The chain is separate from the employee-owned Loch Fyne Oyster Company in Argyll, although it receives supplies of fresh seafood from the company it spun out of in 1998.
Greene King declined to say whether it would seek to participate in a potential break-up of rival Mitchells & Butler, which published relatively strong trading figures earlier this week but has been damaged by the expensive unravelling of a proposed property deal.
City analyst Richard Taylor praised Green King's ability to increase margins despite rising costs of many of its raw materials, and analysts at Panmure Gordon declared it a "highly resilient" performance.
However, Landsbanki analyst Kate Pettem said: "While Greene King is rightly focusing prudently on sustainability at this time, we had hoped there would have been an improvement by now in the managed division's trading relative to other pub companies."
Greene King's announcement is the latest in a series of poor trading updates from the sector. Pub Taverns said last week it has experienced subdued trading over the last couple of months and reported like-for-like profit down 0.8% for the 20 weeks to January 5.
Greene King shares rose 9.5p yesterday to 755p.
Meanwhile, London Pride brewing group Fuller, Smith & Turner yesterday said Fuller's Inns, its managed and tenanted pubs and hotel arm, grew sales by 4% in the 43 weeks to January 26, a decline on the rate of 5% seen in November.
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