Adnams PLC - Final Results

Adnams plc - Final Results

Adnams Results for the 12 Months to 31 December 2025

·      Revenues of £63.7m (2024: £68.1m)

·      Brewery volumes fell 6% year on year, outperforming the market decline of 8% in the prior year

·      Off-Trade volumes grew 1%, outperforming the market which declined by 5% versus the prior year

·      Managed property revenues grew 4.3% on a like for like basis

·      Operating profits grew from a prior year loss to £0.5m (2024: (£1.2m)), as a result of improved operations and disposal of non-core assets

·      Pre-tax losses reduced to (£0.7m) (2024: (£2.8m))

·      Adjusted EBITDA of £0.5m (2024: £1.2m)

·      Net bank debt reduced to £9.2m (2024: £15.3m)

Adnams plc (the "Company"), the Suffolk-based premium drinks producer and hospitality group, has today published its Report & Accounts for the 12 months to 31 December 2025.

The Company reported sales fell £4.3m to £63.7m - £1.7m is attributed to a reduction in owned sites and £1.2m to a fall in contract work.  The remaining business declined 2%, demonstrating the resilience of its business and brand notwithstanding very challenging market conditions.  The Company saw a number of Board changes during 2025, with Andy Driscoll appointed as CFO and interim chair Simon Townsend appointed as chair.

Revenues were stable in its direct on trade business, growing in off trade and on a like for like basis in its managed and tied estate.  Retail continued to experience pressure on revenues, where trading conditions on the high street remained challenging.  The Company continued to reduce its level of debt through the divestment of non-core assets while preserving those assets critical to future success. Alongside debt reduction, the Company is well progressed with its commercial turnaround plan to stabilise revenue and grow profitability.  

The Company reported that brewery volumes had declined by 6% against a market decline  of 8%.  Off-Trade ale volumes grew by 1% versus prior year, significantly ahead of the wider industry decline of -5%.

The Company reported success with its recent ABV reduction of 4 core products, with its on trade business outperforming the market by 8 percentage points in the first 2 months of 2026.

Looking to the future, the Company said that it is fully focussed on the core tasks of improving the trading performance of the Company through investing and growing returns in its hospitality business, driving efficiency in its brewing and streamlining operations business wide, whilst continuing to reduce borrowings.

Adnams plc's AGM will take place on 26^th June 2026.

For further information contact info@adnams.co.uk

Chair's Statement (from accounts released 27^th May 2026)

In my first Chair's statement to accompany the 2024 Report and Accounts, I reflected upon the scale and extent of the change that Adnams had undertaken during the year, and that the Board expected the benefits of the actions taken to flow through into our 2025 financial performance.

Whilst that expectation has partially come to fruition, the extremely challenging market conditions that the entire hospitality industry continues to face have delayed the positive financial impact of the actions taken thus far.

Notwithstanding the outcome in our 2025 results, the company has made further significant progress across a number of fronts. In particular, the repair to our balance sheet now provides us with solid foundations from which to restore our financial performance and to rebuild value for shareholders.

The financial performance of the company in 2025 resulted in EBITDA of £3m, adjusted EBITDA of £0.46m and an operating profit of £0.47m. Whilst this represents further improvement on the prior year, it does not yet illustrate the sustainable recovery of underlying business profitability, and reflects significant movements in the make-up of the business during the year. This EBITDA outcome has been delivered despite the incremental costs that the company has incurred as a result of UK Government policy to increase Employers' National Insurance contributions, increase the National Minimum Wage by 6.7% and implement the Extended Producer Responsibility levy, all of which added considerably to the company's cost base in the year.

As previously reported, the company's level of borrowings was unsustainable, hence the asset disposal programme which we embarked upon. Capital investment has been limited to essential expenditure only and cash has been controlled extremely tightly in order to maintain liquidity. Whilst painful, these actions have been absolutely essential to provide the company with a solid base from which to restore profitable growth.

Critically, net debt was reduced by over £6m in the financial year, to £9.2m at year end, and further reductions will continue in 2026. The cost of servicing our borrowings has therefore reduced by over 30% in the year and will consequently reduce further in 2026. This balance sheet restructuring was enabled by the disposal of a number of property assets, and whilst this was a difficult decision to implement, it was absolutely necessary to enable the company to survive. The assets for disposal were carefully selected according to a variety of criteria including, but not limited to, their historically low returns, unattractive earnings prospects or their peripheral locations when compared to our core geographic footprint. Such disposals yielded proceeds in line with market value and therefore resulted in the preservation of the net asset value of the business. Our 2025 planned asset disposal programme is now largely complete; however, we will continue to identify assets for disposal against criteria in order to positively recycle the proceeds derived into earnings and value-enhancing investments, should the opportunity arise.

Our pub and hotel estate delivered a solid performance during the year, despite the disruption and distraction caused by the disposal programme, and both managed and tenanted properties traded particularly well in the run-up to and during the Christmas trading period. Performance in retail shops was variable, with positive site-level contributions in half of the estate offsetting negative contributions in the balance. The relocation of the Bury St Edmunds store has been a considerable success and performance since reopening has been very encouraging.

During the year, we welcomed the appointment of Carl Middleton to lead all sales activity into free trade, national accounts, take-home and export channels, and our performance across all sales channels has shown positive signs of recovery.

Whilst the contribution from sub-contract brewing operations was largely in line with expectations, a profitable distilling sub-contract was terminated in the year, leading to a significant reduction in earnings.

Central overhead costs were substantially reduced in the year, reflecting our strategic objective to simplify the business at the same time as driving productivity improvements wherever possible.

Finally, we returned to Southwold for the 2025 AGM, and have reinstated a programme of shareholder engagement for 2026, allowing us to welcome many shareholders back to our home.

Board composition

Steve Sharp retired from the Board during the year after a total of 18 years' service to Adnams. Steve's contribution has been significant, no more so than during a period of substantial change for both the Board and the company, and we wish him well in his retirement. Andy Driscoll joined the company as CFO and was appointed to the Board in October 2025. Andy's background and experience in manufacturing and branded businesses has already proved to be immensely valuable. Since the year end, my position as permanent Chair has been announced and I am grateful to the Board for their unanimous support. The Board now comprises two executive directors (being the CEO and CFO) and three Non-executive directors (including the Chair), and I believe the balance, composition and cost of the Board is now appropriate for the size and condition of the company.

Outlook

The wider UK economy continues to face significant challenges, not least from the global implications of recent geopolitical events, alongside which the entire UK hospitality industry remains hugely overtaxed and will incur further employment cost increases in 2026. However, with a substantially strengthened balance sheet, the work to restore the underlying performance and profitability of the company is well underway. We will continue to identify opportunities to simplify the business, focusing all of our resources on those activities, customers and geographies where we can leverage the strength of the Adnams reputation and brand portfolio. We will exit or outsource those activities where we cannot grow sales, reduce costs or gain competitive advantage. I am confident that we can grow our free cash generation and restore shareholder value over time.

I would close by thanking the whole team at Adnams for their unswerving commitment to the company during such a challenging period, and for accommodating the changes necessary to restore the company's fortunes, and all our business partners and customers for their continuing support.

Profit and loss account

For the year ended 31 December 2025

Balance sheet

As at 31 December 2025

The Directors have not recommended a final dividend for the financial year ending 31 December 2025.

The information contained in the above profit and loss account and balance sheet has been extracted from the audited accounts of Adnams plc for the year ended 31 December 2025. The statement preceding the profit and loss account is unaudited.

ENDS