Endeavour's hotel business rebounds with sales of $1.1b for the half

ALH Hotels recorded its biggest Christmas Day of trading ever, serving 42,000 meals as Australians returned to its 349 pubs to celebrate the festive season.

Endeavour's hotels recorded sales of $1.1b, up 55 per cent on the corresponding period from FY21 and EBIT of $256m, more than double the same period in 2021 when restrictions were just being rolled back and at-home celebrations remained the call of the day.

The business announced its FY23 half yearly results this morning; the first financial announcement for the standalone company to be relatively unaffected by the pandemic as trading returns to stable conditions.

CEO Steve Donohue said, "Our team has delivered strong results Group-wide, with a standout December from the first restriction-free festive season in three years. Group sales of $6.5 billion were 2.6 per cent higher versus the prior comparative period, demonstrating the stabilisation of our core markets post-pandemic."

Group EBIT is $644m, 15.8 per cent higher than the prior comparative period and profit sits at $364m, 17 per cent higher than last year.

Retail dropped as Endeavour cycled pandemic related figures of FY22. EBIT for this half is $418m, a drop of 9.3 per cent.

Dan Murphy's also delivered the biggest Christmas week on record and the trend to premiumisation - along with the appetite for new products, craft beer and local products - continued during the reporting period (to the end of December 2022) underpinning a strong gross profit outcome for retail of 23.8 per cent.

Membership of My Dan's now boasts 4.9 million members - up 9 per cent compared to last year - and four new stores have been added to the network along with five renewals. Electronic Shelf Labels are now in operation in 32 Dan Murphy's stores and content platform, Dan's Daily has been visited 2.2 million times since launching last year.

BWS also recorded record sales and dropped home delivery time by 15 minutes, a 23 per cent improvement.

Pinnacle Drinks has launched 382 new products in the first half, including the expansion of its Asian range and the Fruity Beer category, developed in partnership with Carlton & United Breweries.

Starting Monday, ALH his running a digital wallet trial at the Crows Nest Hotel in Sydney, approved by Liquor & Gaming NSW. A trial using facial recognition technology is also being run at Crows Nest and ALH is in discussion with the Queensland regulator about running a FRT trial there as well.

As customers return to store, online sales decreased by almost 20 per cent to $485m and penetration followed, down by close to 9 per cent.

"We continue to focus on meeting customer demand for drinks discovery: a strong new product pipeline and our extensive selection of premium and craft options has contributed to our overall earnings," said Donohue.

Endeavour says that its hotels continue to see the trend towards digital interaction before and during the hotels experience. This includes online research, accommodation bookings, restaurant reservations and customer reviews as well as a shift to order and pay at table with 43 per cent of food sales taking place via digital wallets.

Endeavour shares lifted to $7.14 on the back of the news, closing for the day back at XXX. Shareholders will receive a dividend of 14.3 cents per share.