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Genco Shipping & Trading Limited

gnk · NYSE Industrials
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Ticker gnk
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Industry Marine Shipping
Employees 1037
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FY2012 Annual Report · Genco Shipping & Trading Limited
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Time well spent

AnnuAl report 2012
Greene King plc

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Contents

Section one
review of the yeAr
2 Performance
3 Our focus
10 Chairman’s statement
11 Market overview

Section two
Business review
12 Chief executive’s review
14 Delivering our strategy
16 Operational review
23 Financial review
26 Risks and uncertainties
29 Corporate social responsibility

Section three
CorporAte governAnCe
34 Board of directors
35 Senior management
36 Corporate governance statement
41 Directors’ remuneration report
48 Directors’ report
50 Directors’ responsibilities statements

 Section four
finAnCiAl stAtements
52 Independent auditor’s report (group)
53 Group income statement
54 Group statement of comprehensive income 
55 Group balance sheet
56 Group cash flow statement 
57 Group statement of changes in equity
58 Notes to the group accounts 
89 Independent auditor’s report (company)
90 Company balance sheet 
91 Notes to the company accounts
96 Group financial record

Visit this report online
greenekingreports.com/ar12

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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1

Delivering growth.
This year we have achieved 
strong growth and made 
further strategic progress, 
delivering record results 
and attractive returns for 
our shareholders.

All of our businesses are building customer 
loyalty by delivering industry-leading value, 
service and quality as we strive to become 
Britain’s best pubs and beer business.  

Where CAN I FIND MOre INFOrMATION?

Pages 12-13 Chief executive's review
Our chief executive's review outlines our financial 
and strategic performance during the year.

Pages 16-22 Operational review
Pages 16-18 Retail
Pages 19-20 Pub Partners
Pages 21-22 Brewing & Brands

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Review of the year

2

Review of the year

perFOrMANCe

Strong growth and record results
Our team has once again delivered record 
results and attractive returns to our shareholders 
in a difficult environment. 

  Retail like-for-like sales growth of 4%; food sales growth of 17%.
  Retail operating profit growth of 13%; EBITDA per pub over £200k for first time. 
  Average EBITDA per pub in Pub Partners up 4%; substantive agreements at 98%.
  Brewing & Brands total volumes up 8%; revenue up 5%.
  Strong growth of 10% in adjusted earnings per share.
  Strong margins and cash generation support total dividend growth of 7%.

reveNue  
(£M)

OperATINg prOFIT beFOre exCepTIONAlS 
(£M)

prOFIT beFOre TAx AND exCepTIONAlS  
(£M)

£1,140.4m +9.4%

£236.2m +6.4%

£152.0m +8.6%

1,200.0

1,100.0

1,000.0

900.0

800.0

700.0

600.0

ebITDA* 
(£M)

1
,
1
4
0
4

.

9
4
2
3

.

9
5
4
6

.

9
8
4
.
1

1
,
0
4
2
7

.

260.0

230.0

200.0

170.0

140.0

110.0

80.0

2
3
1
.
8

2
1
6
2

.

2
1
1
.
3

2
3
6
2

.

2
2
2
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.

1
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.

1
4
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.

1
3
9
4

.

1
2
3
0

.

1
1
8
5

.

150.0

130.0

110.0

90.0

70.0

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

ADjuSTeD eArNINgS per ShAre*† 
(p)

ADjuSTeD DIvIDeND per ShAre*† 
(p)

£292.0m +5.6%

53.0p +10.0%

24.8p +7.4%

2
7
8
0

.

2
6
7
3

.

2
6
4
4

.

2
7
6
6

.

2
9
2
0

.

300.0

250.0

200.0

150.0

100.0

5
8
3

.

5
3
4

.

5
3
0

.

4
8
2

.

4
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60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

25.0

20.0

15.0

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2
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8

.

2
3
.
1

2
0
9

.

2
1
.
0

2
1
.
5

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

* 

† 

 As throughout, profit figures are shown before exceptional items.

 Adjusted to reflect the bonus element of the rights issue. 

2007/2008 rebased to 52 weeks for comparative purposes.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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3

Our FOCuS

Our AIM: TO be brITAIN’S beST pubS AND beer buSINeSS

pub pArTNerS
Our focus for Pub Partners 
is to improve the estate, through 
a combination of:

		Reducing the estate to 1,200 
high quality, sustainable sites;

		Driving growth via agreement 

innovation; and

		Linking tenant support to 
commitments to improve 
the customer offer.

Our business model relies 
on all three parts of our 
business contributing to 
our success. Our smaller two 
businesses, Pub Partners and 
Brewing and Brands, are 
highly cash generative and 
therefore help fund our 
Retail growth and add to 
Retail’s purchasing scale.

breWINg & brANDS
For Brewing & Brands the focus 
is on:

		Maintaining the market-leading 
positions of our core brands;

		Investing in marketing and 

sales; and

		Exploiting the benefits of our 
low-cost operating model. 

reTAIl
We aim to achieve growth in our Retail division through:

		Expanding the estate to 1,100 sites through  
either packages or single site acquisitions  
or through new build developments;

		Improving the quality of the estate,  

towards being either food led  
or premium drinks led; and

		Increasing our exposure to the eating out market.

To achieve this, underpinning everything we do is a commitment from all of our businesses  
to deliver value, service and quality to all of our customers

vAlue, ServICe, QuAlITy

Together, these three businesses help us
DrIve ATTrACTIve ShArehOlDer reTurNS AND DelIver 
eArNINgS AND DIvIDeND grOWTh

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Review of the year

Where CAN I FIND MOre INFOrMATION?

Pages 16-18 Retail
The operational review 
provides information on 
Retail's progress in the year.

Pages 14-15 Our strategy

Turn to pages 14 and 15 
for more information 
on our Retail strategy.

reTAIl

Our strategy to grow Greene 
King Retail to around 1,100 sites 
and improve the overall quality 
of the estate through targeted 
acquisitions and investment in 
our people, our offers and our 
assets remains on track.

Our leading brand Hungry Horse grew to 180 sites at 
the year end and saw its first new build site, the Hem 
Heath at Trentham Lakes in Stoke on Trent 
(pictured), open for business.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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Review of the year

Where CAN I FIND MOre INFOrMATION?

Pages 19–20 Pub Partners

More information 
on Pub Partners' 
performance during the 
year can be found in the 
operational review.

Pages 14–15 Strategy
For more detail on our 
strategy for Pub Partners 
please turn to pages 14 
and 15.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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pub pArTNerS

It is critical for the long-term 
success of the tenanted and 
leased model that we increase 
the level of influence over, 
and control of, the consumer 
offer in our pubs.

We now have two franchise-style agreements in our 
estate, Meet & Eat and Local Hero. Local Hero (here 
the Bedford in Tunbridge Wells is pictured) is a retail 
solution for wet-led community pubs centred on cask 
ale, selling a minimum of six ales at any time. 

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Review of the year

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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Where CAN I FIND MOre INFOrMATION?

Brewing & Brands
Turn to pages 21 and 22 
for more information 
on Brewing & Brands' 
performance during 
the year.

Strategy

The strategy section on 
pages 14 and 15 also contains 
more detail on our strategy 
for Brewing & Brands.

breWINg & brANDS

As part of our strategic 
commitment to the continued 
investment in our sector-leading 
portfolio of core ale brands, we 
relaunched Greene King IPA via 
a £4m investment in our ‘Crafted 
for the Moment’ campaign. 

The new brand identity is more contemporary 
and appeals to a younger audience. Early consumer 
reaction and demand has been very encouraging. 

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Review of the year

10

Review of the year

ChAIrMAN’S STATeMeNT

ANOTher SuCCeSSFul yeAr

“This year has seen substantial growth in sales, profits 
and earnings. We are recommending a final dividend 
of 18.1p per share, up 7.7% on last year.”

Results
This has been another very successful 
year for Greene King with substantial 
growth in sales, profits and earnings. 
Revenues were up 9.4% to a record 
£1,140.4m with operating profit before 
exceptionals at £236.2m, up 6.4%. Profit 
before tax and exceptional items was a 
record £152.0m, up 8.6%, and adjusted 
earnings per share was up 10.0% at 53.0p. 

Dividend
A strong second half of the financial year, 
supported by confidence in the company’s 
future, has led the board to recommend a 
final dividend of 18.1p per share, up 7.7% 
on last year. This takes the total dividend 
for the year to 24.8p per share, up 7.4%. 
The final dividend is expected to be paid 
on 10 September 2012 to those shareholders 
on the register at the close of business on 
10 August 2012. 

Acquisitions  
As part of our Retail expansion strategy, 
we completed the acquisition of Capital 
Pub Company in September for £96.0m. 
At the time of the acquisition, Capital 
had 33 high quality, largely freehold sites 

located across London. During the year, 
we also acquired a further 13 pubs for 
£18.7m and exchanged or completed 
on 16 additional sites for development, 
which are spread up and down the country. 

Disposals
In line with our strategy to reduce the 
size of our tenanted and leased estate, 
we disposed of 115 non-core pubs and 
other properties during the period for 
£29.9m, marginally ahead of the book 
value of the assets concerned. 

Board
In July, we were pleased to welcome 
Mike Coupe to our board as a non-executive 
director. He is the group commercial 
director of J Sainsbury plc and brings 
valuable executive multi-site retailing 
experience to our board.

We welcomed Matthew Fearn to the 
company as group finance director 
in September. He was previously 
with Brakes Group, De Vere Group plc 
and Whitbread plc and has a wealth 
of sector-related experience. 

Governance
The board sets itself high standards 
of corporate governance, supported 
by its nomination, remuneration and 
audit committees. The details of our 
compliance with the UK Corporate 
Governance Code, on which we are 
reporting for the first time, are contained 
in the corporate governance statement. 

People
Our consistent delivery of industry-leading 
value, service and quality would not 
be possible without the talented and 
industrious people who work in our pubs, 
our brewing operations and at our head 
office. I would like to express my sincere 
thanks to them all for their efforts and 
their achievements, both individually 
and collectively, in delivering another 
year of significant progress for Greene King. 
We face the future with great confidence 
in the ability of our team. 

Tim Bridge
Chairman
27 June 2012

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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MArkeT OvervIeW

Introduction
The key markets in which we compete 
are the UK drinking out, eating out and 
staying out markets. In each market, 
Greene King Retail has outperformed 
the overall market over the last twelve 
months. Beer volumes in Pub Partners, 
our tenanted, leased and franchised 
division, have outperformed the UK 
on-trade beer market, while own-brewed 
volumes of our core ale brands have 
outperformed the total UK ale market.

Environmental analysis
Political
Our industry remains a heavily regulated one 
with the beer duty escalator having the largest 
single impact on our business. As duty is a 
producer tax, retailers do not have to pass 
this tax onto the consumer. In the on-trade, 
where alcohol sales continue to generate 
most profit, the tax is generally passed on. 
In the off-trade, where most alcohol is now 
sold and where it does not constitute a large 
portion of the major retailers’ profits, the 
duty is not always passed on. This means the 
retail price differential between the on- and 
the off-trades continues to grow, affecting 
the sustainability of community pubs across 
the UK.

The UK government is also looking more 
closely at the negative impact that alcohol 
can have on society if sold and consumed 
irresponsibly. With this in mind it released 
its Alcohol Strategy during the year, which 
included the intention to implement a 
minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol at 
40p. This follows the Scottish government’s 
plans to introduce one at 50p. We believe 
a MUP for alcohol will have benefits for 
both society as a whole and for the ‘great 
British pub’. 

During the year, we have also seen the 
conclusion of the latest round of investigation 
and report on the pub companies, with 
respect to the workings of the ‘beer tie’. 
We are pleased that the government has 
recognised the legality of the tie and the 
positive impact that a traditional brewery 
tenancy can have on attracting entrepreneurs 
into the pub industry at a low-cost of entry. 

Economic
The UK economy remains subdued, slipping 
back into a technical recession in the last 
quarter of our financial year. Specifically, for the 
UK consumer, cost inflation has been running at 
a higher rate than wage inflation, driving down 
real household disposable income. Despite low 
interest rates and an employment market that 
has held up well, consumer confidence 
therefore remains low and volatile. 

The primary outcome of this is a reluctance 
to spend on expensive consumer goods but 
a predilection to spend on ‘everyday treats’ 
such as a good value meal in the local pub. 
This concentration of consumer spending on 
‘lower ticket items’ such as pub food and drink, 
has helped our main markets to continue to 
deliver value growth throughout the recession. 

Social
UK alcohol consumption is in decline although 
it is difficult to differentiate between the 
economic and social reasons for this decline. 
Beer consumption is in even steeper decline, 
averaging 2% per annum since 2002. Factors 
driving this decline include a more health 
conscious UK consumer and increased leisure 
alternatives to the pub. 

In addition, partly due to the price differential 
between the on- and off-trades and partly 
due to the continuous improvement of home 
entertainment, there is an increasing propensity 
to consume alcohol at home. Beer consumption 
in the on-trade has declined at an average of 
3.9% per annum since 2002, including a 3.2% 
decline in 2011, while the off-trade has increased 
by 0.7% per annum over the same period, 
although there was also a 3.5% decline in 
2011. This was the first year the on-trade 
outperformed the off-trade since 1996. 

The UK consumer is also continuing to 
eat out more due to time pressures and the 
increasing value offered by competitors in 
this market. The value of the informal eating 
out market has grown by 42% since 2002 
(CAGR : 3.9%) to stand at £42bn by the end 
of 2011. Within this, pubs have been taking 
a greater share of the growth as they have 
improved the relative quality and value 
of their offer against other ‘casual dining’ 
competitors. Against an overall growth in 
informal eating out of 2.4% ex VAT in 2011, 
branded pub food has grown by 3.6% ex 
VAT1. We expect these trends to continue. 

Eating out
Drinking out
Staying out

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11

Finally, the UK staying out market has also 
benefited from the improved provision of 
budget and mid-market accommodation, 
satisfying the increased demand for business 
related overnight accommodation and, 
particularly in the recession, an increase in 
domestic holidays and short breaks. Revenue 
per available room (RevPAR) in the UK has 
risen 8.7% ex VAT since 2009 and grew 2.9% 
ex VAT in 2011. Although growth may be 
moderate in the near-term, we still expect 
long-term value growth in this market2. 

Greene King performance
Drinking out
With the value of alcohol in the on-trade 
up 1.7% ex VAT in 20113, Greene King Retail 
has delivered drink LFL sales growth of 2.4% 
and total sales growth of 11.4% in the last 
financial year. 

Against the UK ale market down 5.3%4 in the 
twelve months to April 2012, Greene King’s 
core brands saw volumes down 0.7% in 
the same period, while Pub Partners also 
achieved a better beer volume performance 
across its estate than the overall market. 

Eating out
Against an informal eating out market up 
2.4% ex VAT in value terms in 2011 (branded 
pub eating out market up 3.6% ex VAT)1, 
Greene King Retail has delivered food LFL 
sales growth of 5.6% and total food growth 
of 16.8% in its financial year. In the last four 
years, Greene King Retail has almost doubled 
its food sales. 

Staying out 
In a UK provincial market that achieved 
RevPAR decline in 2011 of 0.7% ex VAT2, 
Greene King Retail’s accommodation business 
delivered RevPAR growth of 2.7% in its 
financial year. 

1  Allegra Strategies Project Restaurant 2012.

2  PwC.

3  CGA Brand Index.

4  BBPA.

Market size
£42bn
£22bn
£43bn

Greene King 
Retail sales
£450m
£307m
£24m

Greene King 
Retail's share
of the
market
2.0%
0.7%
0.1%

Review of the year

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12
12

Business review

ChIeF exeCuTIve’S revIeW

A reCOrD perFOrMANCe

“Greene King has again made significant progress over the 
last 12 months, delivering record results in a challenging 
consumer environment. Our strategy is delivering attractive 
and sustainable growth in earnings and dividends, and we 
are confident we can continue to make strong progress.”

perFOrMANCe SuMMAry 
Greene King has again made 
significant progress over the last 
12 months, delivering another 
set of record results:
   Revenue was £1,140.4m, a record, 

following 9.4% growth over 
last year. 

   Operating profit before exceptionals, 
at £236.2m, was also a record, after 
growth of 6.4%.

   Despite the negative impact of 

cost inflation, operating margins 
remained strong at 20.7%, 60 basis 
points (bps) below last year, driven 
by a change in business mix. 

   Profit before tax and exceptionals 
was £152.0m, up 8.6% on last 
year – another record.

   Adjusted earnings per share 

grew 10.0% to 53.0p.

   The board is recommending a 

final dividend of 18.1p per share, 
leading to a total dividend of 24.8p 
per share, up 7.4% on last year. 

Market overview
Greene King has had another successful year 
in a challenging consumer environment. 
Although inflation is coming down, the 
job market has steadied and interest rates 
are low, consumer confidence remains 
weak and volatile. This is driving the UK 
consumer to seek out ‘everyday treats’, 
rather than ‘big ticket’ items. With no 
economic recovery on the horizon, we 
anticipate another tough twelve months 
ahead of us, although we are confident 
of benefiting from the exciting summer 
in Britain, including the Olympics 
in August, notwithstanding the 
unpredictable weather. 

This predisposition to ‘everyday treats’ 
is helping the industry to deliver steady 
growth. In 2011, the £22bn drinking out 
market grew 1.7% in value terms and it 
is expected to grow by 2.5% per annum 
between 2011 and 20151. The £42bn 
eating out market was up 2.4% in value 
terms in 2011 and is expected to grow by 
3.4% per annum between 2011 and 20152. 
And the £43bn staying out market was up 
2.9% in 2011 and is expected to grow by 
0.1% in 20123. 

There are political challenges too, with 
the business having to bear significant 
annual beer duty rises. However, we are 
supportive of the UK government’s 
intention to implement a minimum unit 
price for alcohol. Set at the right level, we 
believe this can be an effective measure 
to combat the irresponsible retailing 
and consumption of alcohol. This will 
have positive benefits for both society 
as a whole and the ‘great British pub’. 
However, we have concerns that the 
proposed 40 pence per unit will not have 
enough of a positive societal impact 
and therefore we recommend the UK 
government looks to harmonise minimum 
unit pricing with Scotland, at 50 pence 
per unit. 

Our aim: to be Britain’s best pubs 
and beer business
Greene King aims to be Britain’s best pubs 
and beer business, as measured by our 
customers, our shareholders and our people. 

1  CGA Brand Index December 2011.

2  Allegra Strategies, Project Restaurants, 2012. 

3 

 ONS Family Spending 2011, PwC UK Hotels 
Forecast February 2012.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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www.greeneking.co.uk
www.greeneking.co.uk

13
13

•	 Full year investment in our core ale 
brands increased by 7.2%, leading 
to another year of strong market 
outperformance for Brewing & Brands. 
Most significantly, we re-launched Greene 
King IPA, the UK’s no. 1 cask ale brand, 
including our first national TV advertising 
for five years. We have also increased our 
investment in innovation with the launch 
of a number of new brands and brand 
extensions including Old Golden Hen 
and Belhaven Black. 

Overall, across our two pub estates, EBITDA 
per pub grew 8.8% to £114k in the year and 
has grown 17.0% over the last two years, since 
we announced our accelerated growth strategy. 

Current trading and outlook
Strong momentum in our underlying trading 
performance has continued into the new 
financial year, augmented by the Diamond 
Jubilee and Euro 2012. After the first eight 
weeks of the new financial year, LFL sales 
in Greene King Retail are +7.1%, average 
EBITDA per pub in Pub Partners is +4.6% 
and Brewing & Brands' core brand volume 
is +2.7%. 

The outlook for the rest of the year remains 
uncertain as our customers continue to be 
challenged by pressure on their disposable 
income and uncertainty around their job 
security. However, our strategy is tailored 
for the prevailing conditions, focusing on 
providing ‘everyday treats’ to our customers 
and delivering attractive and sustainable 
growth in earnings and dividends. We are 
confident we can continue to make strong 
progress, not only for this year, but also 
for the long term. 

Rooney Anand
Chief executive
27 June 2012

In our largest business, Greene King Retail, 
we constantly measure our customers’ 
satisfaction with us through our mystery 
guest and customer feedback programmes. 
By understanding their needs and responding 
to their issues we ensure consistent offer and 
service improvement. The key measure is the 
Net Promoter Score (NPS). This highlights 
the difference between customers who would 
recommend a pub, restaurant or hotel to 
others (the ‘promoters’ of our business) and 
those who would not (the ‘detractors’ of our 
business). In the year, this score reached a 
new high of 53%, up 13 percentage points 
(% pts) on the previous year. Only one retail 
brand in the UK achieved a higher score than 
both Local Pubs and Destination Pubs. 

‘‘This was the second 
year of our focused 
growth strategy and we 
have again made good 
progress in all areas.’’

Our strategy aims to deliver sustainable 
growth in earnings and dividends. We are 
confident that this strategy is building value 
for our shareholders, both now and for the 
long term. We have grown adjusted earnings 
per share by 22.1% in the last two years, 
following a 44 year unbroken run of earnings 
growth between 1964 and 2008. In addition, 
since 1952, we have delivered a dividend per 
share CAGR of 9.1%. 

We are also making progress in terms of our 
employees and our licensees. Our annual 
employee engagement survey showed an 
overall score up four % pts to 71%, closing the 
gap between the UK retail average from nine 
% pts points to two, while licensee tenure has 
improved further this year to be the best for 
five years at 3 years and 10 months. 

We have set an ambitious target and we have 
made excellent progress this year. Our ability 
to retain and attract the best talent from 
within our industry and more broadly from 
retail and consumer goods sectors gives 
me confidence that we can continue to 

build our positive momentum as we strive 
to be Britain’s best pubs and beer business. 
Our people have worked extremely diligently 
this year, as always, and our results are, once 
again, a testament to their effort, commitment 
and the talent we have across our all parts 
of our business. In a customer facing, 
people-centred business, the quality of 
our team and their application to our task 
is a key driver of our continued success.

Strategic progress
Our strategy is to improve our growth and 
returns to shareholders through increasing 
our exposure to the more attractive categories 
in our markets, such as food, coffee, wine 
and rooms, and by increasing the level of 
influence and control we have over our offers 
in these categories. In order to achieve this 
most efficiently and successfully, we aim to:

•	 grow Greene King Retail to around 

1,100 sites and improve the overall quality 
of the estate through targeted acquisitions 
and investment in our people, our offers 
and our assets;

•	 improve the quality and sustainability 
of Pub Partners, our tenanted, leased 
and franchised business, by improving 
the customer offer, investing in core assets 
and reducing the estate to a maximum 
of 1,200 sites; and

•	 continue investing in our sector-leading 

portfolio of core ale brands.

This was the second year of our focused 
growth strategy and we have again made 
good progress in all areas:

•	 We acquired or transferred in 51 new 
Retail sites and, net of disposals, there 
are 954 pubs, restaurants and hotels in 
Greene King Retail, up from 888 when we 
began our accelerated Retail expansion 
strategy. We also have a healthy pipeline 
of new sites. All key growth categories 
have performed well in the year, led by 
food sales, up 16.8%, and coffee sales, up 
20.1%. Over the last two years, EBITDA 
per pub in Retail has grown 14.1% to over 
£200k for the first time. 

•	 In Pub Partners, we disposed of 103 

non-core sites and transferred five sites to 
Greene King Retail. Average EBITDA per 
pub grew by 3.8%. We took greater control 
of the customer offer by increasing Meet 
& Eat franchise sites to 29, launching ten 
Local Hero sites and introducing specific 
price support for over 180 Belhaven sites. 
There is therefore now an element 
of direct offer influence in 378 sites, 
or 27% of the Pub Partners estate.

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Business review

14
14

Business review

DelIverINg Our STrATegy
Building the best pubs and beer business in Britain

prIOrITIeS

reTAIl
Our key priorities are to grow 
our Retail estate to 1,100 sites, 
to improve the overall estate quality 
and to increase our exposure to the 
UK eating out market.

pub pArTNerS 
As well as reducing the size of the 
Pub Partners estate to 1,200 sites, 
we also aim to improve the overall 
estate quality and to continue to 
exert greater influence over the 
customer offer in our tenanted sites.

breWINg & brANDS
For Brewing & Brands the key 
priorities are to grow our core 
brand volume and market share, 
to undertake industry-leading 
investment in our brands and to 
increase our exposure to the take 
home and export channels.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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15
15

kpIs

perFOrMANCe

plANS FOr 2012/13

1. Number of sites 

1.  954 at year end, 

up from 915 at the 
start of the year

2.  Average EBITDA 

2. Up 5.4% to £204k 

per site

3.  Food as a percentage 

3.  39% of sales, up from 

of sales

38% last year

During the forthcoming year we intend to continue our 
estate expansion, acquiring a minimum of 25 new build and 
single sites. We also want to see further growth in earnings, 
demonstrated by an increase in the average EBITDA per 
site, through our ongoing focus on value, service, quality 
and innovation. And finally we aim to get food to amount 
to 40% of Retail sales.

Pages 16–18 Retail

For a more detailed review of Retail, 
please turn to page 16.

1.  Number of 

trading sites 

1.  1,380 at year end, 

down from 1,514 at 
the start of the year

2.  Average EBITDA 

2. Up 3.8% to £55.2k 

per site

3.  Number of pubs 

3.  378, up from 181 

where we help shape 
the offer

last year 

We will continue to target disposals during the year 
to continue the estate reduction plan and reach around 
1,200 sites in 2014. As well as achieving further average 
EBITDA growth per site, we also aim to increase the 
number of sites, operating under a franchise or innovation 
agreement where we have greater influence over the 
customer offer.

Pages 19–20 Pub Partners

Further information on Pub Partners' 
progress can be found on page 19.

1.  Core brand 

own-brewed volume 

2.  Percentage increase 
in marketing and 
innovation 
investment

3.  Profit growth 

from take home 
and export

1.  -0.7% in the year 
vs ale market 
down 5.3%

2. Up 7.2% to £5m 

During the forthcoming year we aim to return our core 
brands to volume growth despite the market conditions, 
to continue to invest in our core brands, to undertake 
brand innovation and investment to increase shelf 
space and rate of sale in supermarkets and to focus 
on North America to drive export growth.

3.  Both channels 

delivered profit 
growth in excess of 10%

Pages 21–22 Brewing & Brands

Turn to page 21 for more detail 
on Brewing & Brands.

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Business review

 
 
 
16
16

Business review

OperATIONAl revIeW

reTAIl

Revenue

£803.9m 
+13.1%

Our brands

% of total revenue

What we do

70.5%

Our Retail division comprises 482 branded destination 
pubs and restaurants and 472 unbranded but segmented 
local pubs across Britain, appealing to a broad range 
of the population.  
15.2%
14.3%
We focus on providing the best value, service and quality 
to our customers to ensure that they want to return.

Food development continues to be important in both 
our destination and local pubs, as does expansion via 
new build opportunities and acquisitions.

Highlights at a glance

lIke-FOr-lIke SAleS 

FOOD SAleS (% OF TOTAl SAleS)

+3.6%

39%

OperATINg prOFIT 

SITeS ACQuIreD

+13.3%

51

Greene King Retail is our biggest and fastest growing 
business, generating 71% of total revenue and 63% 
of group profit in the year, with three-year growth 
per annum of 9% and 8% respectively. At the year end, 
there were 954 pubs, restaurants and hotels across 
the UK, split between Destination Pubs for our 
branded, food-led destinational sites and Local Pubs, 
for our unbranded, more wet-led community sites. 
All sites are either branded or clearly segmented 
by customer occasion. 

Our growth and quality improvement 
strategy for Greene King Retail 
is based on:

		Driving industry-leading organic 

sales growth through our focus on 
consistent value, service and quality 
delivery, alongside the development 
of growth categories such as food, 
coffee, wine and rooms.

•   Maintaining investment levels in 

our leading brands, such as Hungry 
Horse and Old English Inns (OEI), 
and investing in upgrading our food 
provision and amenity in Local Pubs.

		Acquiring additional sites from 
a number of sources, including 
packages, single sites, new builds 
and transfers from Pub Partners. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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17
17

Full year revenue was £803.9m, 13.1% ahead 
of last year, with revenue per pub rising 7.6% 
to an average weekly turnover (AWT) of £16.4k. 
LFL sales were up 3.6%. This was generated 
equally between volume growth and price and 
sales mix improvement. Again, we achieved 
LFL sales growth in our three main sales 
categories with drink LFL sales up 2.4%, 
food LFL sales up 5.6% and room LFL sales 
up 2.9%. Food is now 39% of total sales, 
a 120bps improvement on last year. 

Other growth categories also delivered strong 
growth: coffee sales, helped by the rollout of 
Illy coffee, were up 20.1%; wine sales were 
up 15.3%; and soft drink sales were up 15.2%. 

Operating profit was £149.6m, 13.3% ahead 
of last year, with the operating margin in 
line at 18.6%, despite significant duty and 
cost pressures.

Value, service and quality 
As the UK consumer is prepared to spend 
money on ‘everyday treats’, the value of our 
offers is critical to our continued success, 
whether it be in our premium high street 
sites or our value locals. In Local Pubs, we 
continue to offer known value item (KVI) 
pricing on main product lines. For example, 
we sold 8.1m pints of Carlsberg in the year, 
of which over 25% was at £1.99 or under. 
In Hungry Horse, we have kept entry price 
dishes low, starting at £3.99, while in 
Cloverleaf, the small carvery option starts 
at £4.45. Our two meals for £9.95 offer in 
Old English Inns (OEI) and two courses 

for £9.95 offer in Loch Fyne Restaurants 
(LFR) continue to drive strong lunchtime 
and early evening trade. 

and LFL sales performance – we estimate 
an additional seven points of NPS equates to 
an additional one point of LFL sales growth.

But value is not just about price – providing 
excellent service and quality can deliver 
great value at ‘premium’ prices too. 

Another area of potential differentiation is 
in the quality of our people, our offers and 
the pub amenity. 

So, we are investing heavily in our Retail 
service proposition. We believe there is a 
real opportunity for our pubs, restaurants 
and hotels to differentiate themselves from 
their peers through industry-leading service 
levels. Excellent service will be rewarded 
while poor or inconsistent service will be 
punished particularly in an environment 
where loyalty to a brand is both harder 
to achieve and harder to hold onto. 

In Destination Pubs, we introduced tailored 
service training programmes in all brands 
to drive customer experience improvements. 
Around 9,000 employees were trained on 
these programmes in the year. In OEI, staff 
turnover fell and customer satisfaction 
improved. Since launch, complaints are 
down 10%, compliments are up 120% and the 
NPS is up 32% pts. Hungry Horse launched 
its ‘Can you feel the Horse?’ programme 
leading to a 12% pts improvement in NPS, 
LFR is encouraging its chefs to serve 
meals direct to customers and Belhaven has 
increased the frequency of its mystery guest 
visits to align with the rest of the estate. 
Overall, NPS hit a record high of 53% for the 
year, up 13% pts on the previous year. And 
there is a strong correlation between NPS 

In a retail business, the quality of the people 
will ultimately determine the success of 
the business. We have approaching 21,000 
employees across our Retail business now, 
many of whom are part-time. Improving the 
quality and length of service of our teams 
is a real focus for Greene King Retail. 

In the year, we increased our investment 
in people to recruit and retain higher 
quality retail managers and team members. 
Our Discovery Apprentice scheme is the 
centrepiece of this programme and by the 
year end we had 1,549 apprentices in learning 
and another 427 who had completed their 
apprenticeship and were still with us. This 
equates to 12% of our Retail workforce. Local 
Pubs’ management induction programme won 
a NITA award and retail manager turnover 
fell seven % pts. We also increased the 
internal appointment rate to 69% across 
Greene King Retail. 

In addition, we made a step change in the 
quality of our premium local food offering, 
using learnings from Realpubs and Capital 
Pub Company, while Illy coffee is now 
in almost 800 sites. OEI won a national 
award for the quality of its fish and chips. 

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

AVERAGE NO. OF PUBS TRADING

REVENUE (£M)

EBITDA (£M)

938 +5.2%

£803.9m +13.1%

£191.7m +10.8%

950

900

850

800

750

9
3
8

8
7
9

8
9
2

900

800

700

600

500

8
0
3
9

.

7
1
0
7

.

6
5
7
7

.

200

175

150

125

100

1
9
1
.
7

1
7
3
0

.

1
5
7
5

.

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

OPERATING PROFIT (£M)

OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN (%)

EBITDA PER SITE (£K)

£149.6m +13.3%

18.6%

£204.4k +5.4%

150

140

130

120

110

1
4
9
6

.

1
1
8
7

.

1
3
2
0

.

1
8
6

.

1
8
6

.

1
8
0

.

19

18

17

16

15

250

200

150

100

50

1
7
9
2

.

1
9
3
9

.

2
0
4
4

.

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

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Business review

18
18

Business review

OperATIONAl revIeW CONTINueD

Value, service and quality continued
Finally, outside of acquiring new sites, we 
spent £65.0m on repairing, maintaining and 
improving the quality of our Retail estate. 
£27.0m of this was expansionary capital, 
split equally across Destination Pubs and 
Local Pubs. This was invested in 149 sites, 
or 16% of the estate, and achieved an 
EBITDA ROI of 27.7%. 

Food
The eating out market is a significant long-term 
growth opportunity for Greene King Retail. 
Our food sales were over £300m in the year, 
still less than 1% of the fragmented, growing 
UK eating out market worth around £42bn1. 
The pub sector is growing its share of this 
market – for example, the value of the branded 
pub food sector grew 3.6% in 2011, ahead of 
the overall eating out market growth rate. 

Greene King Retail outperformed the pubs 
sector. Total food sales growth was 16.8%, 
improving food’s share of our total sales 
to 39%, with LFL food sales growth of 5.6%. 
Both Destination Pubs and Local Pubs delivered 
strong growth, with food sales growing its 
share of total sales in Local Pubs from 20.5% 
to 23.5%. 

Our strategy is to broaden the appeal of our 
food offers to drive cover growth, alongside 
price and mix improvements to help offset 
annual cost inflation. 

To achieve this we have introduced lower 
calorie dishes, we have brought in takeaway 
options and we have continued to launch 
innovative new menu items such as ‘fish 
your way’ in LFR. This helped to drive 

almost 4% cover growth in the year, with below 
inflation price and mix improvements of 1.7%. 

To offset this pricing policy and protect 
margins, we have increased our purchasing 
power through bringing Belhaven pubs and 
Cloverleaf into our main food distribution 
contract, and we have used our rising 
skill base in the team to further engineer 
our menus. 

Branded and segmented estate
In Greene King Retail, we only operate either 
branded sites or sites clearly segmented 
by customer occasion and demographics. 
Fully branded pubs, restaurants and hotels 
represent 41% of our Retail estate, with our 
leading brand, Hungry Horse, up to 180 sites 
at the year end. This brand has doubled in size 
in four years and we will continue to invest 
in the brand going forward, particularly in 
the current consumer environment, but also 
due to the significant growth opportunities 
for the brand across the UK. Our other main 
Retail brands are Old English Inns (96 sites), 
Loch Fyne Restaurants (42 sites) and Eating 
Inn (25 sites). 

Our Local Pubs estate has been re-segmented 
following the acquisitions of Realpubs 
and Capital Pub Company to create the 
Metropolitan division within Local Pubs. 
We expect this division to consist of a 
minimum of 70-80 premium, urban sites, 
mainly, but not exclusively, in London. This 
estate will be made up of the two acquired 
estates and 25-35 Greene King conversions 
into either the Realpubs or the Capital Pub 
Company operating model. We have already 
converted two sites – the Maynard Arms 

in Crouch End and the Black Lion in 
West Hampstead – to the Realpubs model 
and we have seen AWT uplifts of 156% 
and 135% respectively. 

Digital 
We have significantly increased our investment 
in improving our digital platform over the 
last twelve months. We are now seeing over 
100k website ‘hits’ per week, with a 44% 
increase in the year, and a 270% increase via 
mobile devices. We have introduced online 
reservation bookings into LFR, which already 
generate 4% of covers, and we have launched 
facebook pages across much of our Retail estate. 
In Local Pubs, we have already reached around 
300 ‘fans’ per pub. We have seen a 61% increase 
in our email database following a number of 
highly targeted promotions across the estate, 
among the one million emails we send out each 
month. The ‘open rate’ on these emails is 30%. 
We are also trialling loyalty card schemes 
covering about 25% of our Retail estate.

Expansion
We remain on track to deliver our target of 1,100 
sites as part of our Retail expansion strategy. 
In the year, we acquired or transferred in 
51 sites, but disposed of 12 non-core sites, 
taking the year-end estate to 954 pubs, 
restaurants and hotels. On average the number 
of sites rose 5.2% to 938. Of those 51 new sites, 
44 were single site or package acquisitions, 
including 33 in the Capital Pub Company 
acquisition, two were new build sites and five 
were transfers from Pub Partners. In addition, 
we exchanged or completed on 16 further 
sites, of which 12 were brownfield 
or greenfield opportunities.

1  Allegra Strategies.

A key element of our Retail strategy is to develop 
growth categories such as food, wine and coffee:

		LFL food sales were up 5.6% and food now accounts 

for 39% of total sales;

		wine sales were up 15.3%; and

		coffee sales, helped by the rollout of Illy coffee, 

were up 20.1%.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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pub pArTNerS

Revenue

% of total revenue

£162.7m 
-2.2%
70.5%

14.3%

www.greeneking.co.uk
www.greeneking.co.uk

19
19

What we do
Pub Partners is responsible for letting our 1,380 tenanted, 
franchised and leased pubs across Britain and aims to ensure 
that each pub has the right licensee to operate it, on the right 
agreement, with the right offer.
15.2%

As well as standard tenancy agreements, we also operate 
innovative new franchise-style agreements for our Meet & Eat 
and Local Hero pubs. Value, service and quality contracts with 
licensees help us ensure that all our pubs provide a good 
customer offer. 

Highlights at a glance

SITeS ON SubSTANTIve 
AgreeMeNTS

98%

SITeS WITh AN eleMeNT 
OF OFFer INFlueNCe

27%

MeeT & eAT SITeS

29

lICeNSee SuppOrT per pub 

-14%

Our agreements
	Touchstone tenancy agreement

	Horizon lease agreement

 Touchstone + tenancy agreement

		Meet & Eat franchise agreement

	Access tenancy agreement

		Local Hero franchise-style 

agreement

Pub Partners is responsible for our tenanted, leased 
and franchised pub operations. This segment of the 
market has been under most pressure from trading 
conditions over the last five years, post the 
introduction of the smoking ban and through the 
recession. There are too many ‘lifestyle’ licensees 
operating in the sector and too many pubs with 
insufficient offer and amenity quality. 

Our aim is to build the highest quality, most customer-
focused non-managed pub estate in the UK. This will be 
achieved by recruiting and retaining the best licensees, 
delivering industry-leading agreement innovation, 
taking greater control of the customer offer and 
proactively disposing of the estate tail. 

As a result of this focused 
strategy, we have segmented 
our estate as follows: 

		A core estate of 900 sites operated 
under traditional tenancies and 
leases. These require less overhead 
support and are highly cash 
generative and capable of 
delivering consistent EBITDA 
per pub growth. 

		An innovation estate of 300 sites 
operated under new agreement 
styles and with enhanced influence 
over the customer offer. 

		A disposal estate, currently 

comprising around 200 sites. 
These sites will not generate 
sufficient and sustainable profit 
to be shared equitably between 
Pub Partners and its licensees. 

Business review

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20
20

Business review

OperATIONAl revIeW CONTINueD

Our strategy is on track and Pub Partners 
is delivering a resilient performance as we 
continue to reposition it for a sustainably 
profitable and cash generative future. 

In the year, Pub Partners achieved revenue of 
£162.7m, down 2.2%, but on 6.4% fewer pubs. 
Beer volume per pub was marginally behind last 
year while rental income per pub was ahead. 
EBITDA was £80.2m, down 2.9%, although 
average EBITDA per pub was up 3.8%. LFL 
EBITDA in the core estate was up 0.2% and 
total LFL EBITDA was down 0.3%. Operating 
profit was £72.2m, 3.1% lower than last year on 
a margin 40bps lower, impacted by the rollout 
of our franchised model. 

Pub Partners has achieved much in the year: 
it has successfully integrated the Belhaven 
tenanted and leased estate, with no impact on 
performance; it has delivered strong returns 
on its capital investment; it has seen twelve 
Business Development Managers achieve their 
Diploma in Multi-Site Leadership; and it has 
launched BarGains, a new buying club for 
licensees, utilising Greene King’s scale 
purchasing advantages.  

Recruitment and retention
The most important element of the tenanted, 
leased and franchised business model is the 
recruitment and retention of the best licensees. 
Our recruitment process is rigorous, including 
Operating Director sign-off of all new licensees 
and the completion of seven mandatory training 
courses before taking a pub. Licensee tenure has 
improved again and is now just short of four 
years. The improved quality of our licensees 

is also reflected in further improvement in the 
key licensee health measures: there were just 29 
temporary agreements at the year end, or 2.1% 
of our trading pubs, the lowest recorded level 
since 2003; there were five closed pubs for 
reopening and the number of licensees on 
‘cash with order’ was 20% lower than last year.  

Agreements and licensee support
We also aim to increase the level of influence 
over, and control of, the consumer offer in 
our pubs. At the more basic level, we provide 
price support to over 300 sites via Business 
Builder and Love Your Local. In Scotland, 
volumes were ahead of last year through 
specific brand price support. 

All price support is agreed in conjunction 
with value, service and quality contracts with 
licensees to improve the value our licensees 
can provide to their customers, to raise 
service standards towards those we achieve 
in Greene King Retail, and to try to impact 
on the quality of the offer and amenity in the 
pubs. We have also provided new correx 
signs outside around 800 sites within the 
estate. Overall, despite a greater number 
of pubs operating with support, the value 
of our licensee support per pub fell 14%.

We also have two franchise-style agreements. 
The franchise model allows us to develop 
brands for Pub Partners’ pubs to utilise, 
supported by our purchasing scale and Retail 
experience. ‘Meet & Eat’ was launched at 
the British Franchise Association annual 
exhibition in September. It is a food, drink, 
service and entertainment package for the 

value community segment of the market. 
We had 29 Meet & Eat sites trading at the year 
end, having transferred two to Greene King 
Retail. AWT has risen 150% to £8k per week 
while annual franchisee earnings are on target 
at c. £40k. 

We have also developed ‘Local Hero’. This is 
a retail solution for wet-led community pubs 
which have lower opportunities to expand 
into food. The offer is centred on cask ale, 
selling a minimum of six at any time, split 
50/50 between Greene King brands and 
those from local micro-breweries. The food 
offer is created in conjunction with our food 
development team and is focused on local 
provenance. The up-front investment from 
both Pub Partners and the licensee is lower 
than Meet & Eat, while licensee earnings 
are c. £25k per annum. 

Disposal programme
We continue to make excellent progress 
on our disposal programme. In the year we 
disposed of 103 non-core sites. We therefore 
had 1,380 trading sites at the end of the year, 
down from almost 1,700 four years ago. We 
continue to target a reduced estate of around 
1,200 sites in 2014. We believe this is the 
right strategy to pursue for the long-term 
benefit of the company and its shareholders 
although in the short term it does hold back 
Pub Partners’ profitability. In the year, 
EBITDA of c. £1m was lost due to declining 
trade and income at these pubs during the 
disposal process and we anticipate a slightly 
higher level in the new financial year. 

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

AVERAGE NO. OF PUBS TRADING

REVENUE (£M)

EBITDA (£M)

1,454 -6.4%

£162.7m -2.2%

£80.2m -2.9%

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

1
,
6
0
2

1
,
5
5
4

1
,
4
5
4

1
6
8
7

.

1
6
6
4

.

1
6
2
.
7

180

160

140

120

100

90

80

70

60

50

8
3
6

.

8
2
6

.

8
0
2

.

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

OPERATING PROFIT (£M)

OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN (%)

EBITDA PER PUB (£K)

£72.2m -3.1%

44.4% -0.4% pts

£55.2k +3.8%

7
5
7

.

7
4
5

.

7
2
2

.

80

70

60

50

40

4
4
9

.

4
4
8

.

4
4
4

.

46

44

42

40

38

60

55

50

45

40

5
2
2

.

5
3
2

.

5
5
2

.

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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breWINg & brANDS

Revenue

% of total revenue

£173.8m 
+5.0%
14.3%

15.2%

70.5%

Our brands

www.greeneking.co.uk
www.greeneking.co.uk

21
21

What we do
Brewing & Brands is responsible for brewing, marketing 
and distributing our wide range of award-winning craft ales, 
including the no. 1 cask beer in the UK (Greene King IPA), 
the no. 1 premium ale in the UK (Old Speckled Hen), the 
no. 1 Scottish ale (Belhaven Best) and the no. 1 premium 
cask ale (Abbot Ale).

We operate from two breweries, one in England and 
one in Scotland, to optimise our production efficiencies. 
This, combined with our efficient route to market, enables 
us to undertake industry-leading investment in our 
brands, such as our new national TV campaign for 
Greene King IPA.

Highlights at a glance

OWN-breWeD beerS 
OuTperFOrMeD Ale MArkeT by

4.6%

INveSTMeNT  
IN brANDS up 

7.2%

greeNe kINg IpA 
relAuNCheD

SuCCeSSFul 
NeW prODuCT 
DevelOpMeNT

Our Brewing & Brands division is responsible for 
brewing, distributing, marketing and selling the 
UK’s leading portfolio of ale brands. Our strategy 
is to utilise the most efficient operating model in the 
industry to fund industry-leading investment in our 
core ale brands to make them category leaders. This 
is supported by a passion for excellence in product 
quality and customer service to differentiate 
Brewing & Brands from other brewers.

As a result, Greene King is the no. 1 
cask ale brewer in the UK, the no. 1 
premium ale brewer in the UK 
and the no. 2 ale brewer in the UK1 
with each of its core brands leading 
their categories: 

		Greene King IPA is the UK’s no. 1 

cask ale brand2.

		Old Speckled Hen is the UK’s no. 1 

premium ale brand1.

		Abbot Ale is the UK’s no. 1 premium 

cask ale brand2.

		Belhaven Best is Scotland’s no. 1 

ale brand1.

1 

 CGA Brand Index MAT to 17/03/12, 
Nielsen Scantrack MAT to 28/04/12.

2  CGA Brand Index MAT to 17/03/12.

Business review

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Business review

OperATIONAl revIeW CONTINueD

Innovation has been an important part of the 
Brewing & Brands business during the year:

		Old Golden Hen was the most successful bottled ale 

launched into the off-trade in 2011;

		London Glory saw 86% volume growth in the 

year; and

		we have launched a Scottish stout, Belhaven Black.

In an ale market down 5.3%1, our core ale 
brands were down 0.7%. Second half volume 
decline was driven by a more competitive 
environment in Scotland, price increases, 
particularly in Take Home, and more difficult 
comparatives. However, in the year we saw 
strong growth in Export, Take Home and 
Free Trade, and in our own Retail estate. 
Total volume, including third party drink sales, 
was up 8.1% leading to revenue up 5.0% to 
£173.8m. Operating profit was £33.0m, down 
0.3%. The operating margin fell 100bps, driven 
by channel and product mix, together with 
inflationary cost pressures, particularly 
from third party lager suppliers.

Alongside a marketing and innovation 
investment increase of 7.2% in our core 
ale portfolio, we have launched our first 
apprenticeship scheme with 18 apprentices 
already within the business, we have invested 
£850k in upgrading and extending the capacity 
at Belhaven, we have re-launched our online 

shop and visitor centre and we have again 
won numerous awards both for our brands 
and our breweries. 

Brand innovation
We continue to invest in innovation 
within Brewing & Brands: 

Core ale brands
•	 Towards the end of the year, we relaunched 
Greene King IPA via a £4m investment, 
spread over twelve months, in our 
‘Crafted for the Moment’ campaign. 
Early consumer reaction and demand 
has been very encouraging. 

•	 Old Speckled Hen had another strong 
year. The brand has driven our strong 
performance in Take Home and Export. 
Hen family volume growth in the year 
was 4.7%. 

•	 In a more competitive market, Belhaven 

brands continued to perform well, achieving 
volume growth of 3.9%, with Belhaven 
Best winning Marketing Strategy of the 
Year at the Scottish Business Awards.

•	 As part of the Greene IPA re-launch, 
we introduced Greene King IPA Gold 
and Reserve.

•	 Old Golden Hen was the most successful 
bottled ale launch into the off-trade in 
2011 and accounted for 18% of all bottled 
ale growth in the year to April 20122.

•	 London Glory, ahead of the Jubilee and 

the Olympics, achieved 86% volume growth. 

•	 In Scotland, we launched Belhaven Black, 
a Scottish stout, which has seen on-trade 
installations ahead of schedule.

1  BBPA.

2  AC Nielsen MAT value to 29/4/12.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

REVENUE (£M)

EBITDA (£M)

OPERATING PROFIT (£M)

OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN (%)

£173.8m +5.0% £38.4m +0.3%

£33.0m -0.3%

19.0% -1.0% pts

180

170

160

150

140

1
7
3
8

.

1
6
5
6

.

1
5
7
7

.

39

38

37

36

35

3
8
3

.

3
8
4

.

3
7
6

.

35

30

25

20

15

3
1
.
8

3
3
.
1

3
3
0

.

22.5

20

17.5

15

12.5

2
0
2

.

2
0
0

.

1
9
0

.

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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FINANCIAl revIeW

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23
23

STrONg perFOrMANCe

“Revenue grew by 9.4%, operating profit before exceptionals 
by 6.4% and profit before tax and exceptionals by 8.6%. 
Operating cash flows remain strong, as do our overall 
credit metrics.”

The benefits of a consistent and clear 
strategy to deliver earnings and dividend 
growth, despite the weak economic 
backdrop, can be seen in the performance 
of the business.

Results 
Revenue grew by 9.4% on last year to 
£1,140.4m. The biggest driver of this growth 
came from the Retail estate where revenue 
grew by 13.1% with average revenue per 
pub rising by 7.6%. The Retail estate now 
accounts for over 70% of group revenue. 
Total revenue in Pub Partners was down 
2.2% while average revenue per pub 
increased by 4.5%. Brewing & Brands 
grew revenue by 5.0%, primarily driven 
by volume growth. 

Operating profit before exceptionals was 
£236.2m, up 6.4% on last year with the 
operating margin down 57bps to 20.7%. 
The main driver of the reduction in group 
operating margin remains the changing 
business mix of the group, accounting for 
50bps of the decline. Control over costs 
and cash remains strong with the operating 
margin of the Retail estate in line with 
last year at 18.6%, despite significant cost 
inflation, the growth in food as a percentage 
of sales and the impact of the duty escalator.

Net interest costs, before exceptional 
items, of £84.2m were only 2.7% higher 
than the same period last year, as a result 
of strong cash flow management and an 
IFRS pension interest credit of £2.3m. 
Profit before tax and exceptionals was 
£152.0m, an increase of 8.6% on last year. 
The tax charge before exceptional items 
of £38.0m equates to an effective tax rate 
of 25.0%. Earnings per share before 
exceptional items of 53.0p was up 10.0%, 
benefiting from the reduction in the 
effective tax rate. Total profit before 
tax for the year, after exceptional items, 
was £125.1m, up 7.1% on last year.

Exceptional items
As set out in note 5, we recorded 
a net exceptional charge of £11.6m during 
the year, consisting of a charge of 
£26.9m against profit before tax and 
an exceptional tax credit of £15.3m.

The charges against profit before tax 
include £5.8m in relation to the acquisitions 
of Cloverleaf, Realpubs and Capital Pub 
Company, the final costs in relation to the 
integration of our financial systems now 
completed and an impairment charge 
of £22.1m against the carrying value of a 
small number of our pubs where specific 
market conditions have impacted trading. 

Offsetting these charges we achieved a 
profit over book value on disposed pubs 
and other properties of £0.2m and have 
recognised a £4.4m credit in relation to 
the curtailment of certain discretionary 
benefits provided to retired members of 
the main defined benefit pension scheme.

The exceptional tax credit of £15.3m is 
made up of four items: a credit of £12.2m 
arising from the reduction in the rate of 
corporation tax from 26% to 24% effective 
April 2012; a credit of £5.1m in relation 
to tax on exceptional items; a £6.3m 
adjustment in relation to prior years; and 
a £4.3m credit in relation to the movement 
in the tax base cost of our properties. 
A £2.0m finance cost has been charged 
in relation to the adjustment of prior 
period tax.

Cash flow
Operating cash flows remain strong. 
We delivered EBITDA of £292.0m, up 
5.6% on last year, from 2.2% fewer pubs. 
After investing in the core estate, paying 
interest, tax and dividends, we generated 
free cash flow of £38.5m, comfortably 
ahead of our debt service obligation of 
£26.3m. This remains a consistent part 
of our long-term financial strategy.

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Business review

FINANCIAl revIeW CONTINueD

Cash flow continued
During the year we disposed of 115 sites as 
part of our strategy to improve the quality 
of our estate. Cash proceeds from disposals 
totalled £29.9m and we expect to maintain the 
rate of disposal into the next financial year.

Looking forward we have a strong 
pipeline of new retail sites and expect 
to open a minimum of 25 sites a year 
from a combination of new builds, 
single site acquisitions and transfers.

As outlined below we made good progress 
in our target of growing the Retail estate 
to 1,100 sites and the cash outflow on 
acquisitions and acquired sites totalled 
£143.6m, bringing the net cash outflow 
in the year to £83.0m.

Net debt and treasury
Net debt at the year end was £1,493.2m, 
an increase of £83.0m from the previous year 
end, with the key movements being positive 
free cash flow of £38.5m, disposal proceeds 
of £29.9m and investment in growing our 
retail estate of £143.6m.

Capital expenditure
During the year we continued to invest in 
both maintaining and developing our core 
estate in addition to growing the size of our 
Retail estate. Total expenditure during the 
year was £224.9m compared to £209.5m 
in the previous year.

Our high quality and primarily freehold 
assets support £1,329.0m of securitised 
bonds with a flat debt service profile and 
amortisation of £26.3m in the year. Last year 
we announced a new five-year, £400m, 
revolving credit facility starting in April 2011. 
At the year end this was £210.0m drawn. 

The group's three defined benefit schemes are 
all closed to new entrants. As at 29 April 2012 
there was an IAS 19 pension deficit of £67.3m, 
which compares to £45.7m at the previous 
balance sheet date. The movement is primarily 
driven by the fall in the discount rate applied 
to the scheme liabilities.

Total cash contributions in the year were 
£13.1m for both past and current service. 

As at the year end, the group was in consultation 
with the remaining active members of the 
defined benefit schemes in relation to closing 
the schemes to all future accrual. These 
discussions will be completed in the next 
financial year and no impact of any outcome 
of these discussions has been included 
within the accounts.

Matthew Fearn
Finance director
27 June 2012

Capital expenditure on the core estate, 
including maintenance capital, was £81.3m 
compared to £71.9m in the previous year. 
In the Retail estate we continue to identify 
opportunities to drive better returns from 
our sites through selective investment such 
as the conversion of sites to the Hungry 
Horse format, which now totals 180, 
investing in kitchens and gardens as well as 
generally improving the amenity in our pubs. 
During the year we increased our investment 
in Pub Partners through the development 
of our franchise offers as well as increased 
investment in our sites to ensure they remain 
safe environments for our licensees. Going 
forward we expect the level of core capex 
to remain at roughly the same or a slightly 
lower level, focused on continuing to 
improve the overall quality of our estate.

On 3 September 2011 we completed the 
acquisition of Capital Pub Company plc for 
a total of £96.0m including acquired debt. 
This brought us 33 high quality, predominantly 
freehold sites in the attractive and growing 
premium eating and drinking out market 
in London. A further £18.7m was invested 
in acquiring single sites and £26.8m was 
invested on these and previously acquired 
sites. During the year we also converted the 
first two existing Greene King Retail sites 
to the Realpubs format driving significantly 
improved trading.

Our overall credit metrics remain strong, 
with interest rate hedges in place for 97% of 
the variable rate debt and a blended average 
cost of debt of 5.9%. Fixed charge cover 
remains stable at 2.6x, and interest cover 
at 2.7x. Annualised net debt/EBITDA of 5.1x 
remains in our target area and will continue 
to improve as cash is invested ahead of the 
earnings stream generated. Our securitised 
vehicle had a free cash flow debt service 
cover ratio of 1.5x at the year end, giving 
27% headroom.

Dividend 
The recommended final dividend of 
18.1 pence per share is expected to be 
paid on 10 September 2012 to shareholders 
on the register at the close of business on 
10 August 2012.

The proposed final dividend brings the total 
dividend for the year to 24.8 pence per share 
representing an increase on last year of 7.4%. 
This is in line with the board’s policy of 
targeting a minimum dividend cover of around 
two times underlying full year earnings.

Pensions
The group maintains a defined contribution 
scheme which is open to all new employees. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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25
25

key perFOrMANCe INDICATOrS

ADjuSTeD eArNINgS per ShAre (p)

DIvIDeND per ShAre (p)

53.0p

24.8p

pbTe (£M)

£152.0m

Summary
EPS grew 10.0% to 53.0p as strong growth and margins 
converted into record PBTE.

Summary
Following strong growth and continued cash generation, 
the board has recommended a final dividend payment 
of 18.1p per share, 7.7% ahead of last year, producing a total 
dividend per share for the year of 24.8p, 7.4% ahead of last year.

Summary
We achieved a record profit before tax and exceptionals 
of £152.0m, up 8.6% on last year. This was driven by 6.4% 
operating profit growth with interest costs increasing by 2.7%.

55

50

45

40

35

5
3
4

.

5
3
0

.

4
8
2

.

4
3
4

.

26

24

22

20

18

2
4
8

.

2
3
.
1

2
1
.
0

2
1
.
5

160

145

130

115

100

1
5
2
0

.

1
4
0
0

.

1
1
8
5

.

1
2
3
0

.

2009

2010

2011

2012

2009

2010

2011

2012

2009

2010

2011

2012

Definition
Profit for the period attributable to equity holders, 
excluding the effect of exceptional items, divided by the 
weighted average number of shares in issue during the 
period excluding own shares held.

Definition
Total dividend per share paid and proposed in respect 
of the period. 

Definition
Group profit for the period after financing charges 
but before tax and exceptional items. 

AverAge prOFIT per OuTleT (£k)

Free CASh FlOW (£M)

FIxeD ChArge COver 

Summary
In a challenging consumer environment, Greene King 
Retail average profit per outlet grew 7.8% and Pub Partners 
average profit per outlet grew 3.8%. This was achieved 
through strong revenue growth and tight cost control.

greeNe kINg reTAIl

pub pArTNerS

1
5
9
5

.

1
4
8
0

.

160

150

140

130

120

1
3
5
0

.

50

49

48

47

46

4
9
.
7

4
7
9

.

4
7
3

.

£38.5m

2.6x

Summary
We delivered EBITDA of £292.0m, up 5.6% on last year 
from 2.2% fewer pubs. After investing in the core estate, 
paying interest, tax and dividends, we generated free cash 
flow of £38.5m, comfortably ahead of our debt service 
obligation of £26.3m. 

Summary
Fixed charged cover has remained stable at 2.6x 
in the year.

60

40

20

0

5
1
.
2

4
0
0

.

3
8
5

.

2
3
7

.

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

.

2
6
x

.

2
6
x

.

2
4
x

2
.
1
x

2010

2011

2012

2010

2011

2012

2009

2010

2011

2012

2009

2010

2011

2012

Definition
Operating profit for the period, before exceptional items, 
divided by the average number of pubs in the period.

Definition
Free cash flow is the movement in net debt due to operating 
cash flows, after interest payments, tax payments, core capex 
and dividends, but excluding exceptional items, acquisitions, 
disposals and share movements.

Definition
Fixed charge cover is calculated using the formula 
EBITDAR (operating profit before depreciation, 
amortisation, rent and exceptionals) less maintenance 
capex divided by the sum of interest and rent. 

reTurN ON CApITAl eMplOyeD (%)

8.5%

Summary
The focus on underlying profit and cash, along with 
investment in our retail estate has seen our return 
on capital employed increase by 0.4% pts.

8
5

.

8
5

.

8
.
1

9

8

7

6

5

2010

2011

2012

Definition
Return on capital employed is calculated by dividing 
pre-exceptional operating profit by average capital 
employed throughout the year. Capital employed is 
defined as total net assets excluding deferred tax balances, 
derivatives, post-employment liabilities and net debt.

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Business review

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Business review

rISkS AND uNCerTAINTIeS

The group’s operations expose it to a variety of risks, effective management 
of which is essential to the delivery of the group’s business plans and strategic 
objectives, as well as maximising shareholder returns. Our approach is geared 
towards early identification of key risks, managing and mitigating those risks 
and responding quickly and effectively should a risk crystallise. 

Formal risk management processes are 
in place across the group to identify and 
evaluate risks, taking into account the 
likelihood of their occurrence, the scale 
of potential impact on the business and 
the effectiveness of planned risk mitigation 
actions, so that risks can be ranked on formal 
risk registers and actions suitably prioritised. 
Given that some risks are external and not 
fully within our control, the risk management 
processes are designed to manage risks which 
may have a material impact on our business, 
rather than to fully mitigate all risks. 

Using a group-wide consistent approach, each 
business unit or functional area reviews its 
risks and mitigation plans on a regular basis, 
and draws up plans to manage new risks or 
gaps in mitigation plans. Progress of these risk 
implementation plans is monitored by senior 
management on a regular basis. In addition, 
a company-wide risk committee reviews in 
detail and monitors those risk mitigation plans, 
ensuring that plans work across the group 
as well as the sharing of best practice. 

The audit committee regularly reviews the 
risk management processes for each division 
and also reviews the group’s key risks, as set 
out on the group's risk register, on an annual 
basis, prior to their submission to the board, 
which retains ultimate responsibility for the 
company’s risk management framework.

This section highlights some of the key risks 
and uncertainties which affect Greene King, 
but it is not intended to be an exhaustive 
analysis of all risks facing the business.

STrATegIC rISkS

Specific risk areas
To achieve our Retail expansion 
plans we need to be able to 
acquire existing pubs, smaller 
pub businesses and brown- or 
green-field sites on which to 
build new pubs.

Potential impact
A failure to find and secure the 
acquisition (and development where 
appropriate) of top quality sites 
could reduce our rate of growth 
in the future. 

Mitigation
We maintain a pipeline of sites 
available for purchase and a team 
of acquisition managers responsible 
for securing new sites on an ongoing 
basis. Our in-house property 
development team is employed 
to help deliver new-build projects 
on time and on budget.

Monitoring/assurance
Regular updates are provided 
to management as to the status 
of potential acquisitions and of 
development progress for new 
build sites or major conversions of 
acquired pubs. Monthly estate plan 
meetings are held to discuss progress.

The current economic situation 
and fluctuations in the UK 
property market may make 
it more difficult to reduce the 
size of our tenanted estate. 

It may be more difficult to dispose 
of properties at an appropriate 
valuation, impacting our ability to 
reinvest those funds elsewhere or 
service debt. This may also lead us 
to continue operating pubs that are 
in long-term profit decline.

We have an ongoing programme 
of investment in our sites, in the form 
of both expansionary and maintenance 
capital. Under-performing sites receive 
additional operational focus through 
our Independence Pub division. Our 
team of estate managers is tasked with 
achieving the sale of proposed disposal 
sites at the best possible prices.

There is regular assessment of the 
long-term value of all of our sites 
by the property department.

We are investing significantly 
in our core ale brands to deliver 
continued profitable growth 
in our branded beer business.

A failure to execute this strategy 
correctly could result in lower 
or stagnant sales growth in those 
brands, affecting profitability.

This year our investment in marketing 
and innovation is up 7.2% including 
£4m invested in relaunching the 
UK's no. 1 cask ale, Greene King 
IPA is under way. This has included 
extending the Greene King IPA 
family with new versions to broaden 
its appeal.

The Brewing & Brands executive 
team reviews and approves brand 
investment proposals, monitors 
customer opinions and is tasked 
with turning increased investment 
into increased sales. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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eCONOMIC AND MArkeT rISkS

Specific risk areas
We are dependent on the extent 
to which our customers choose to 
spend their discretionary spend 
in our pubs and restaurants or 
buying our beers, and are thus 
impacted by the wider economic 
situation within the UK and by 
competitor activity.

Potential impact
A prolonged recession or delay in 
economic recovery, or significant 
competitor activity, could lead 
to a potential reduction in our 
revenue and lower growth rates.

Inflationary trends increase 
the costs of our key products, 
including food, drink and site 
services including utilities. 

Higher costs could impact margins 
and lead to reduced profitability.

The challenging economic 
situation impacts our tenanted 
and leased licensees too.

There is the risk of more tenant 
defaults and business failures, 
potentially reducing revenue and 
increasing costs in the form of tenant 
support or recruiting new licensees.

Mitigation
Our diversified business model 
enables us to provide a wide range 
of offers targeted at different consumer 
groups. Our emphasis on value, service 
and quality is designed to ensure that 
we continue to appeal to consumers. 
We have a broad geographic spread 
of pubs with a focus towards the 
more affluent areas of London 
and the South-East.

Monitoring/assurance
The executive teams and the 
board receive regular updates on 
performance. Competitor activity 
is monitored at both a strategic 
and tactical level to enable 
suitable actions to be developed 
in response. All business units 
keep and update profit protection 
plans in case of any downturn 
in trading conditions.

All costs, including labour, 
are closely monitored by the 
executive teams to ensure that 
they remain in line with budget.

Our Pub Partners division constantly 
monitors the vital signs of our 
licensee health, including debt levels 
and the numbers of tenancies at will.

We have contracts in place with 
major suppliers designed to protect 
us against significant increases in 
major cost items and against price 
volatility. We continually evolve 
the composition of menus and 
retail prices to optimise value to the 
customer and profits for the company.

Operational and financial support 
is provided to licensees where 
necessary and appropriate. Business 
Development Managers are trained 
to help grow and diversify our 
licensees' businesses. There is 
ongoing agreement innovation 
to ensure that more of our tenants 
are able to run profitable businesses.

FINANCIAl rISkS

Specific risk areas
Our financing structure requires 
us to be able to repay capital 
borrowed and interest on 
time and to ensure that 
we operate within certain 
financial covenants.

We are reliant on maintaining 
robust systems of internal 
control to deal accurately 
with the large numbers of 
transactions undertaken by 
the business and to ensure 
compliance with statutory 
obligations particularly 
with regard to taxation.

We operate three defined benefit 
pension schemes which must 
be funded to meet the required 
benefit payments. The value 
and funding of the schemes are 
subject to the risk of changes 
in life expectancy, actual and 
expected price inflation, changes 
in investment yields and future 
salary increases.

Potential impact
Breaching our financial covenants 
would have a significant impact 
on our ability to pay dividends 
or reinvest cash back into the 
business. It could also impact 
our reputation and ongoing 
creditworthiness.

Mitigation
Our long-term strategy and yearly 
business plans are formulated to 
ensure that financial covenants can 
be met. Our securitised vehicle had 
a free cash flow debt service cover 
ratio at the year end of 1.5x, giving 
27% headroom. Under our bank 
facility we had 94% headroom on 
the key net debt/EBITDA covenant.

Monitoring/assurance
We regularly monitor our 
performance against our financial 
covenants, including stress-testing. 
Working capital is carefully 
forecast, regularly reviewed by the 
finance teams and closely managed.

Inadequate internal control systems 
increase the risk of fraud being 
perpetrated against us. Non-compliance 
with statutory obligations or a material 
misstatement in the reported results 
of the company could damage 
our reputation.

Our systems of internal control, 
more details of which appear on 
page 40, include robust controls, 
appropriately qualified staff, 
segregation of duties and authority 
levels for expenditure and payments. 
Appropriate advice is taken to ensure 
relevant statutory compliance. 

Regular management accounts 
are produced for each area and 
reviewed in detail, to enable 
irregularities to be exposed. 
There is a detailed external 
audit of our statutory accounts. 

The difference in value between 
the schemes' assets and liabilities 
may vary, resulting in an increased 
deficit being recognised on our 
balance sheet. The volatility of this 
deficit makes longer-term planning 
more difficult.

All the schemes are closed 
to new members and we have 
been consulting with members 
regarding closure of the schemes 
to future accrual, to reduce volatility.

There is regular monitoring of the 
schemes' investments and dialogue 
with the trustees on an ongoing basis 
regarding funding requirements.

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Business review

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Business review

rISkS AND uNCerTAINTIeS CONTINueD

regulATOry rISkS

Specific risk areas
Increasing public focus on issues 
such as binge drinking, underage 
drinking and the health impacts 
of drinking alcohol mean that 
there is the risk of further 
legislative changes in these areas, 
including additional taxation.

Potential impact
Additional taxation or further 
changes to laws on the sale of alcohol 
could lead to both reduced revenue 
and increased costs across the group.

Mitigation
We engage actively with government 
to ensure that it appreciates that the 
safest and most responsible place to 
consume alcohol is in a well-managed 
licensed on-trade premises. 

Monitoring/assurance
The regulatory landscape is 
monitored on our behalf by public 
affairs advisers, so we remain aware 
of any potential changes which may 
adversely impact our business.

We are required to comply with 
a wide range of health and safety 
legislation, including in the areas 
of food safety and fire safety, 
across all parts of our business.

A major incident which causes 
serious illness, injury or even 
loss of life to one of our customers, 
employees or tenants could have 
a significant impact on our reputation.

OperATIONAl AND peOple rISkS

Specific risk areas
Given that we have some well 
known national brands it is 
vital to avoid poor service 
standards or non-compliance 
with brand standards.

Potential impact
Customers may stop visiting 
our sites or visit less frequently, 
leading to a loss of revenue 
and reputational damage.

We are reliant on information 
systems and technology for 
many aspects of our business.

A lengthy failure of any such 
systems could impact our 
ability to do business and 
cause reputational damage.

We are reliant on a number of 
key suppliers and third party 
distributors to supply our 
pubs and restaurants.

An event may occur preventing 
us from producing, packaging 
and distributing our own beers.

We are reliant on the quality 
of our employees and 
our licensees.

Interruption of supply or key 
supplier or distributor failure 
could over the longer term reduce 
our revenue or lead to increased 
costs if alternative arrangements 
are required.

Supply disruption could impact 
customer satisfaction and, in the 
longer term, lead to reduced 
revenue and profitability.

A failure to attract, develop, retain 
and motivate the best employees at 
all levels of the organisation and the 
best tenants may mean that we are 
not able to execute our business 
plans and strategy.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

We have a centrally managed 
system of compliance tracking 
(KPIs), which is validated by both 
internal and independent external 
audits carried out at all Retail sites 
to measure performance against 
certain strict health and safety 
standards including food safety 
and fire safety. Operational 
managers are regularly briefed on 
performance and remedial actions 
are tracked from the centre.

We have a comprehensive range 
of formally documented policies 
and procedures in place to ensure 
compliance with current legislation 
and approved guidance in this area, 
as well as our own high standards. 
We have entered into a primary 
authority partnership with Reading 
Borough Council to validate our health 
and safety policies and they have rated 
our safety management systems as 
very good. A new programme in Pub 
Partners is designed to improve safety 
levels for new tenants. Safety measures 
are in place to ensure that product 
integrity is maintained and that all food 
and drink products are fully traceable.

Mitigation
We maintain tight controls to protect 
and enhance our reputation and 
brand values, alongside staff training, 
targeted investment programmes 
and mystery guest visits. Incident 
escalation and management systems 
are also in place. 

Our networks are protected by 
firewalls and anti-virus protection 
systems and back-up procedures are 
also in place. A business continuity 
plan is in place for critical business 
processes. We have access to an 
off-site disaster recovery facility 
in the event of a major issue with 
our head office or our systems.

Our key suppliers are expected to 
maintain disaster recovery plans. 
We also maintain back-up plans 
in the event of the failure by or 
loss of a key supplier.

Monitoring/assurance
Mystery guest scores are regularly 
measured and reviewed by the 
relevant executive teams in our 
Retail divisions. 

The IT department constantly 
monitor threats to data protection 
by viruses, hacking and breach 
of access controls. The business 
continuity plan is also regularly 
reviewed and tested.

The financial stability of key 
suppliers that we regard as most at 
risk is monitored with the help of 
external advisers. Disaster recovery 
plans of suppliers are reviewed 
regularly and our own supply 
chain alternative plans tested.

Detailed risk management and 
mitigation plans exist in our internal 
production and distribution activities.

The risk mitigation plans are 
reviewed and tested regularly by 
the Brewing & Brands division. 

We aim to recruit the best people 
and offer training and development 
programmes to ensure that we retain 
them. Remuneration packages are 
benchmarked to ensure that they 
remain competitive. The range 
of tenancy agreements, training 
programmes and support available 
is designed to attract and retain 
the best quality licensees.

Our annual employee engagement 
survey is used to obtain direct 
feedback from employees on a 
range of issues. Both staff and 
licensee turnover is measured 
and reviewed by relevant 
management teams.

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COrpOrATe SOCIAl reSpONSIbIlITy

As one of the leading pub and beer businesses in the UK, it is vital that we operate 
a sustainable and responsible business, and we take the maintenance and delivery 
of an effective social responsibility programme very seriously. We continue to 
make good progress in our CSR goals despite setting ever more challenging 
targets for our business.

This year our focus was on a number 
of priorities including various 
commitments made in connection 
with the government’s Public Health 
Responsibility Deal. Details of our 
progress on these priorities, together 
with a number of other highlights, 
are set out here. If you would like 
full details of our CSR policies and 
practices, please visit the social 
responsibility section of our website, 
www.greeneking.co.uk. 

The environment
Our work on reducing our impact on the 
environment continues to focus on reducing 
our overall energy consumption, our water 
use, how we deal with our waste and on 
reducing our emissions. 

The year has seen an increase in the size and 
number of our pubs and an increase in the 
amount of beer we have brewed and yet 
we have still made excellent progress 
in reducing our overall emissions. 

We have also continued to improve our 
environmental performance in other areas. 
Improved efficiencies in our Brewing & 
Brands division have led to a reduction in the 
average amount of water required to produce 
our beer, from 4.32 barrels of water per barrel 
of beer last year to 3.85 barrels this year.

The scope of our Environmental Management 
System has been expanded and now covers 
all our Bury St Edmunds production sites. 

Accreditation to the ISO 14001 standard 
confirms that the system effectively meets all 
legislation and good practice requirements.

In our Retail division we have continued 
to test a range of energy saving initiatives 
including the installation of voltage 
optimisers, the use of LED lighting, above 
ground cellar cooling systems and better 
boiler controls.

Finally, we are delighted to have again been 
awarded the Carbon Trust Standard, which 
demonstrates our commitment to cutting our 
carbon footprint. To attain the standard for 
the second time we were able to demonstrate 
a genuine reduction in our CO2 emissions by 
6.3% across all our operations.

Our key environmental data is set out on the 
following page.

Our environmental priorities this year were:

A reduction in CO2 emissions in 
our existing estate of breweries, 
offices and managed houses on 
a like-for-like basis with a target 
of a 4% reduction for the next 
financial year.

A reduction in the amount of 
waste sent to landfill with a target 
of ensuring that 80% of waste 
generated in our Retail sites is 
not sent to landfill by the end 
of the calendar year 2011.

Our total energy consumption was 
down 2.9% compared with last year 
and our CO2 emissions were down 1.8%. 
In addition, the amount of CO2 used 
relative to £100,000 of revenue in 
our Retail and Brewing & Brands 
divisions was down from 16.67 tonnes 
to 14.68 tonnes per £100,000 of revenue.

Through on-site separation and 
segregation of glass, card and dry mixed 
recyclables, over 85% of the waste from 
our Retail pubs, restaurants and hotels 
is now not sent to landfill. 

Of those, 172 sites are diverting 100% of 
their waste away from landfill, and 72% 
are diverting over 80% of their waste 
away from landfill.

We also collected 19% more used cooking oil 
than last year for recycling into bio-diesel.

A reduction in water usage in 
our existing estate of breweries, 
offices and managed houses on 
a like-for-like basis with a target 
this year of installing meters across 
our managed houses and setting 
reduction targets.

Water usage has fallen by around 3% 
during the last year, despite an increase 
in the number of managed houses.

The installation of water meters in our 
Retail division has begun and 73 sites 
now have them installed. Work to install 
the remainder will continue, provided 
that the water companies agree, as early 
indications from sites where meters 
have been installed suggest that 
considerable saving can be made if leaks 
or high usage sites can be identified and 
issues addressed.

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Business review

COrpOrATe SOCIAl reSpONSIbIlITy CONTINueD

Environmental data

Natural gas

Other fossil fuels

Electricity

Energy for operations

Vehicles

Total energy (vehicles and operations)

Total CO2 emissions

Water consumption

uNITS

Fy 2010/11

Fy 2011/12 DIFFereNCe

% ChANge

MWh

MWh

MWh

MWh

MWh

MWh

Tonnes

M3

210,094

30,472

171,877

412,443

29,219

441,662

146,036

197,333

24,920

178,174

400,427

31,099

431,526

143,389

2,126,919

2,049,826

-12,761

-5,552

+6,327

-11,986

+1,880

-10,106

-2,647

-77,093

-6.1

-18.2

+3.7

-2.9

+6.4

-2.3

-1.8

-3.6

Food safety and supply
This has been a key priority for us this 
year, having committed to two of the 
government’s key targets in the Public 
Health Responsibility Deal: 

Compliance with the government’s 
salt targets for the end of 2012.

We have made considerable progress 
in meeting the 2012 salt targets and are 
continually reviewing our products 
against them. However, some products, 
such as bacon, require the manufacturers 
to develop a technical solution in order 
for them to meet the standards whilst still 
maintaining the taste, quality and shelf 
life of the product.

The removal of artificial trans 
fats from our products by the 
end of 2011.

All products within our core estate have 
been reformulated to ensure artificial 
trans fats have been removed.

Work continues in both these areas to 
ensure that the businesses we acquired 
over the last 18 months are also able to 
meet these commitments.

Scores on the doors
As the programme of audits continues by 
Environmental Health Officers across the 
UK we are proud to now have 209 of our 
Retail pubs rated good or excellent by 
the scheme.

Healthy eating
Eating Inn has launched a range of low-calorie 
cocktails starting at just 48 calories, introduced 
skinny coffees and is also offering low-calorie 
rosé wine.

This year we added more salads to our 
summer menu. We have highlighted dishes 
that are under 700 calories on our Locals 
menus and have shown lower calorie options 
on our Hungry Horse menu with a ‘heart’ 
icon. We are currently working on dishes 
under 600 calories for our next menu cycle 
and continue to work on developing lower 
calorie or healthier dishes. For our Premium 
Locals menus we are looking to introduce 
healthier ingredients such as wholewheat 
pasta, oven baked fishcakes, chickpeas, beans 
and lentils as well as ‘healthy’ fats.

Training materials were created and sent to 
all our kitchens regarding gluten and, whilst 
we have a number of dishes that contain no 
gluten, due to stringent labelling requirements, 
we are not able to call these gluten free.

The health and safety of our staff 
and customers

Our principal commitment during 
the year was to continually strive 
to identify and reduce health and 
safety risks and to improve the 
safety of our premises.

We are now commencing our third 
year of external food safety and hygiene 
compliance audits in our Retail division, 
tasking the business to deliver an average 
in excess of 85%. This is from a base at 
end of year one of 79%, progressing to 
83% in year two.

This year we also joined with Reading 
Borough Council to form a new Primary 
Authority Partnership (PAP), to create a 
single point of contact for consultation with 
councils on health and safety issues across 
all of our pubs. The agreement enables us 
to deal with Reading Borough Council on 
all health and safety issues rather than with 
each individual local authority, of which 
there are over 400, thereby cutting red tape. 
It has already resulted in a reduction in the 
number of enforcement letters that we receive.

Stay safe with Safe Start
This year saw the introduction of a new 
Safe Start initiative in our leased and tenanted 
division. The Safe Start pack comprises a 
complete set of statutory tests including gas, 
electricity and fire safety which are carried 
out before the new licensee takes over the pub. 
Licensees are now also required to pass an 
online Safe Start exam before taking on a pub. 

Awards
Once again we continued our good record 
of receiving awards for our health and safety 
practices in our Brewing & Brands division.

•	 RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Award 

•	 RoSPA Managing Occupational Road Risk 

Award (MORR) Gold award 

•	 British Safety Council International 

Safety Award 

Responsible retailing

Under the government’s Public 
Health Responsibility Deal 
we committed to ensuring that 
effective action was taken in all 
premises to reduce and prevent 
under-age sales of alcohol 
(primarily through rigorous 
application of Challenge 21 
and Challenge 25).

We have been working with suppliers 
to develop and implement new software, 
which not only prompts our employees 
to confirm on every transaction that the 
customer is over 18 but also now displays 
a date of birth 18 years ago so that staff 
can see at a glance if someone is old 
enough to purchase alcohol. 

We are also rolling out a new training 
package across the whole business. 
All new staff are required to sign a 
confirmation that they have completed 
this training before they are authorised to 
sell alcohol. We continue to use in-house 
test purchases to monitor compliance.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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31

We said that we would include a 
section on health and wellbeing 
of employees within our annual 
report, including details of our 
staff sickness absence rate.
At this time it is not possible for us to 
provide reliable sickness and absence rates 
although this is something we are working 
towards with the planned introduction 
of a new HR system during 2014.

During 2011 we included a health and 
wellbeing question within our annual 
employee survey, the results of which 
are being followed up in team meetings. 

We undertook to implement 
some basic measures for 
encouraging healthier staff 
restaurants, vending outlets 
and buffets.
We provide a staff restaurant at our head 
office in Bury St Edmunds which ensures 
that staff based or visiting there have 
the opportunity to eat freshly prepared 
healthy meals each day. 

There is a good availability and selection 
of fruit and vegetables within our staff 
restaurant. All food prepared uses no trans 
fats, has low salt content and uses low 
calorie products such as light mayonnaise 
and skimmed milk where appropriate.

Best Bar None and Pub Watch schemes
172 of our managed pubs belong to 
recognised Pub Watch schemes and a 
further 22 have or are currently signed 
up to Best Bar None award schemes. 

In local communities we 
committed to providing support 
for schemes appropriate for 
local areas that wish to use them 
to address issues around social 
and health harms, and will act 
together to improve joined up 
working between schemes 
operating in local areas.

We see Best Bar None and National 
PubWatch as being the routes through 
which we might do this, and have 
identified all of our pubs, restaurants 
and hotels covered by a Best Bar None 
scheme, promoted the benefits internally 
of the awards and set a target of 90% 
signing up to participate in the next 
available awards. 77 of our sites are 
eligible for inclusion in the scheme 
and all will sign up for the next round 
of awards. We are looking at making 
registration for the scheme easier for 
our house manager by producing, where 
possible, downloadable templates and 
documents on our intranet as well as 
talking to Best Bar None about how to 
make the requirements of the scheme 
more uniform across the country.

We have been in discussion with Best Bar 
None and National PubWatch to explore 
how we might work together in future 
and what scope there is for supporting 
new schemes and start ups. No decisions 
on funding have yet been made.

Last year a number of our pubs were 
presented with Best Bar None awards 
including the Twa Tams in Perth which 
gained a Gold award and went on to 
represent us in the finals of Scotland’s 
Best Bar None awards where they also 
won the innovation award. 

Our team at the Peacock in Nottingham won 
both their category and the overall title of 
Best Bar None in Nottingham. And our team 
at the Rudds Arms in Middlesborough was 
awarded Best Bar None, Community Pub 
and overall Best Bar None for Teesside.

Quality standards for our beers
Our Bury brewery site has been awarded 
the highest grade for the second consecutive 
year of unannounced audits with the British 
Retail Consortium. Our Belhaven brewery also 
has a similar level of award with pre-planned 
visits. This means that our beer is produced 
with the highest quality and food 
safety standards.

The engagement and wellbeing 
of our staff

This year our key priority was 
to achieve an improvement 
in employee engagement 
demonstrated by our annual 
attitude survey with a target 
to achieve 74% engagement 
across our teams.

We achieved an improvement in 
employee engagement, increasing it 
from 67% to 71%, just shy of our target 
74%. We also saw an increase of 15% 
in respondents vs. the previous year 
with a total of 65% of the business 
sharing their views. 

Action plans are in place across the 
business as we continue our work to 
move the employee engagement score 
closer to our goal.

Three of our other priorities for this year 
related to the health and wellbeing of our 
staff, and once again reflect our commitment 
to the government’s Public Health 
Responsibility Deal:

We committed to increasing 
physical activity in the workplace.
Our work in this area is still in its early 
stages but we are working with Healthy 
Ambitions, Suffolk to promote the 
importance of health and wellbeing to 
our employees by raising awareness of 
health issues, running activities to engage 
our employees and offering tips and 
advice, principally at our head office, and 
via our intranet, which has a dedicated 
Healthy Ambitions section to provide 
useful information and signposts for 
our staff to empower them to adopt 
healthy lifestyles.

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COrpOrATe SOCIAl reSpONSIbIlITy CONTINueD

Macmillan Cancer Support
Since the year end we have 
launched our new national 
partnership with Macmillan 
Cancer Support to help improve 
the lives of people affected by 
cancer. We hope to raise £1m 
over the next three years to help 
Macmillan provide support to 
people living with cancer, every 
step of the way. The money raised 
will help fund essential information 
services, emotional support, expert 
medical care and financial help for 
people living with cancer as well 
as their family and carers.

Retaining, developing 
and attracting talent
Apprenticeships
Last year Greene King signed up to 
participate in the government’s new 
apprenticeship scheme, starting with our 
Retail business. At our financial year end we 
had 1,549 apprentices in learning across our 
Retail business and a further 427 who had 
completed their programme and were still 
working with us. This is almost 10% of our 
entire workforce.

Our apprenticeship programme has now 
been extended to our Brewing & Brands 
business. Seven members of the customer 
sales team are already working towards their 
apprenticeship qualifications and a further 
11 new apprenticeships have been created in 
warehouse & distribution and engineering. 

Developing management talent
This year twelve of our business 
development managers were awarded their 
Post Graduate Diploma in Multi-Site Retail 
Management from Birmingham City 
Business School. The programme, which 
focuses on multi-site leadership, takes 
twelve months to complete and was 
developed by Birmingham exclusively 
for Greene King. A further six managers 
joined the programme in May this year.

As part of our commitment to develop from 
within, twelve Belhaven team members also 
graduated from Belhaven’s Management 
Development Programme. Now in its third 
year, the scheme has produced 36 graduates 
in three years, of which 28 are still in the 
business and all of whom have taken on 
or are due to take on more senior roles. 

First class training
Our Local Pubs HR team was the winner 
of the “Best Licensee Induction Programme 
– Managed Estate” at the 2011 BII National 
Industry Training Awards. The award is given 
to the entry which best “demonstrates training 
excellence and the effective use of resources 
to achieve measurable results, and recognises 
those people and organisations which create 
success through training and development”.

Support for our tenants
Induction training
During the year our Pub Partners business 
refreshed its induction training for new 
licensees. The enhanced training takes the 
form of a four-day residential course and 
now includes a new Retail Excellence module 
alongside the award winning Go for Growth 
training which has been extended to two 
days. Cellar management is held separately at 
the Greene King specialist cellar management 
training facility. Licensees and their staff also 
have access to online training modules on 
every aspect of running a pub.

Stay on track
Demonstrating the success of our training and 
other support for our tenants, Pub Partners 
was awarded the Tenant Track Pub Company 
of the year award after receiving the highest 
satisfaction ratings against our competitors 
in a survey of five hundred tenants. 

Charitable support
This year our managed pubs, hotels and 
restaurants raised a massive £325,000 for 
charities close to their hearts. Our Brewing 
& Brands division’s Annual Charity Ball 
took place in May and raised £22,000 for 
Bury St Edmunds-based drug and alcohol 
rehabilitation charity Focus12. 

Apprenticeships
As youth unemployment broke through the 1 million 
mark, celebrity chef Marco Pierre White took time out 
of his own kitchen to back our apprenticeship scheme. 
White, a former apprentice himself, helped officially 
launch our Discovery Apprenticeship programme 
with a masterclass cookery demonstration to 
celebrate the achievements of some of the first 
apprentices to qualify. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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CurreNT yeAr prIOrITIeS

Our priorities for this year are:

Salt targets

We remain committed to the government’s salt targets for the end of 2012. 

Menu information

We will extend our work on providing calorie, fat, sugar and salt levels in all our dishes, 
allergen information and information about dishes that are prepared with ingredients 
free from gluten to all our individual pub websites to assist our customers who have 
food issues, intolerances or are simply interested in learning more about our food.

Responsible retailing

In local communities we will provide support for schemes appropriate for local areas 
that wish to use them to address issues around social and health harms, and will act 
together to improve joined up working between schemes operating in local areas.

Preventing under-age 
drinking

We commit to continuing to ensure that effective action is taken in all premises to 
reduce and prevent under-age sales of alcohol (primarily through rigorous application 
of Challenge 21 and Challenge 25).

Health and safety

We will continue to strive to identify and reduce health and safety risks and 
to improve the safety of our premises.

Reducing CO2

Reducing waste

We are aiming for a reduction in CO2 emissions in our existing estate of breweries, 
offices and Retail pubs, hotels and restaurants with improving the ratio of CO2 
emissions relative to revenue in our Retail and Brewing & Brands divisions from 
14.68 tonnes CO2 per £100,000 of revenue to around 14.4 tonnes.

Our aim is an ongoing reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill and at the 
same time we have committed to participate fully in the voluntary Food Service and 
Hospitality Agreement drawn up by WRAP on behalf of the government, which aims 
to reduce food waste, optimise packaging and increase recycling rates.

Reducing water usage

We aim to achieve a reduction in water usage in our existing estate of breweries, offices 
and Retail sites on a like-for-like basis with a target this year of a 2.5% reduction.

Improving employee 
engagement

We are aiming to improve employee engagement demonstrated by our annual 
attitude survey with a target to achieve 74% engagement across our teams.

Increasing physical 
activity

We will continue to increase physical activity in the workplace, for example through 
modifying the environment, promoting workplace champions and removing barriers 
to physical activity during the working day.

Charitable support

We will endeavour to raise, through fundraising and events, £1m for 
Macmillan Cancer Support in the three years to 2015.

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34

Corporate governance

bOArD OF DIreCTOrS

Key of committees

N

R

A

Nomination committee

Remuneration committee

Audit committee

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

Tim Bridge, DL (63)
Chairman 
Appointed in 2005  
(joined the board in 1977)

N

Rooney Anand (48)
Chief executive 
Appointed in 2005  
(joined the board in 2001)

Having joined Greene King in 
1970 Tim Bridge was appointed 
to the board in 1977. He held a 
variety of positions within the 
group, becoming managing 
director in 1990 and chief 
executive in 1994. In 2005 he 
stepped down as chief executive 
to take over the role of chairman.

Rooney Anand joined the group 
as managing director of Brewing 
Company and was promoted 
to chief executive in 2005. 
He was previously president 
and managing director of the 
UK bakery division at Sara Lee, 
the international consumer 
goods business, and, prior 
to that, at United Biscuits.

Matthew Fearn (47)
Finance director 
Appointed in September 2011

John Brady (60)
Non-executive director 
Appointed in 2005

N

R

A

Matthew Fearn joined Greene 
King in 2011 from Brakes Group 
where he was Chief Financial 
Officer. Matthew previously 
gained extensive finance 
experience in the leisure sector 
with De Vere Group plc and 
Whitbread plc. Matthew is 
a member of the ICAEW.

Having been a director of 
McKinsey and Company, the 
management consulting firm, until 
2004 with experience in European 
retail and marketing, John Brady 
brings an extensive background in 
strategy development to the board. 
John is also a non-executive 
director of Aegis Plc.

Mike Coupe (51)
Non-executive director 
Appointed in July 2011

A

Ian Durant (53)
Non-executive director 
Appointed in 2007

R

A

With current experience gained 
as an executive director on the 
board of a premium, listed 
company, Mike Coupe also 
brings knowledge of a large, 
multi-site retail organisation 
developed through his role 
as group commercial director 
at J Sainsbury plc.

As a former finance director 
at Liberty International plc, 
Ian Durant contributes extensive 
financial experience to the 
Greene King board. Ian is 
also the chairman of Capital & 
Counties Properties PLC and a 
non-executive director of Home 
Retail Group PLC and Greggs plc.

Norman Murray (64)
Senior independent  
Non-executive director 
Appointed in 2004

N

R

Norman Murray brings invaluable 
experience to the Greene King 
board having been both a 
chairman and non-executive 
director on a range of boards 
across a number of sectors. 
He is currently chairman 
of Petrofac Limited and a 
non-executive director of 
Edrington Group Ltd, the 
premium spirits company.

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SeNIOr MANAgeMeNT

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35

Jonathan Webster (50)
Managing director 
Destination Pubs  
In role since 2007 
( joined company in 2006)

Having worked for more than 
25 years in the pub and leisure 
sector, Jonathan Webster brings 
extensive experience and 
knowledge to the senior 
management team. Jonathan 
joined Greene King with the 
acquisition of Hardys & Hansons 
plc where he was chief executive.

Euan Venters (54)
Managing director 
Brewing & Brands  
In role since 2010 
( joined company in 2008)

Euan Venters joined Greene 
King as managing director 
of Belhaven. He has more 
than 25 years’ experience in 
the consumer goods industry 
and was previously at Sara Lee, 
where he was most recently 
global brand president 
for its body care business.

Simon Longbottom (41)
Managing director 
Pub Partners  
In role since 2010

Having joined Greene King from 
Gala Coral where he was managing 
director of the gaming division 
and after senior positions at 
Mill House Inns and Mitchells 
& Butlers, Simon Longbottom 
contributes eleven years’ 
experience in the sector.

Richard Lewis (41)
Managing director  
Local Pubs  
In role since July 2011

Richard Lewis joined Greene King 
from The Warehouse, where 
he was chief operating officer of 
New Zealand’s largest non-food 
retailer. He has developed a 
career in retailing through roles 
within the Kingfisher Group 
before moving into food retailing 
with Sainsbury's.

_3_gnk_ar12_front_(RB_RB).indd   35

25/07/2012   10:55:44

Corporate governance

36

Corporate governance

Corporate governanCe statement

Statement of compliance with the 
UK Corporate Governance Code
The company became subject to the new 
UK Corporate Governance Code for the 
first time during the year. The code sets 
out guidance in the form of principles and 
provisions on how companies should be 
directed and controlled to follow good 
governance practice. The Financial 
Services Authority (FSA) requires 
companies listed in the UK to disclose 
how they have applied the main principles 
and whether they have complied with its 
provisions throughout the financial year. 
Where the provisions have not been 
complied with companies must provide 
an explanation. 

The board considers that the company 
has complied with the UK Corporate 
Governance Code dated June 2010 
throughout the year, except in the 
following areas:

B.7.1
B.7.1 requires that all directors of FTSE 350 
companies should be subject to annual 

election by shareholders. Recognising 
that a number of institutional shareholders 
were not in favour of annual re-election of 
the entire board and in view of the specific 
circumstances applying to the board last 
summer, the board decided not to ask 
all directors to submit themselves for 
re-election. The specific circumstances 
were that the board comprised just 
five directors, three of whom had been 
re-elected during 2010. The remaining two 
directors at that time submitted themselves 
for re-election at last year’s AGM, along 
with the two new board members. 

C.3.1
C.3.1 requires the audit committee to 
comprise at least three directors, all 
independent non-executive directors. 
This requirement was not met between 
2 May and 26 July, in that the committee 
had just two members during that short 
period. The position was rectified with 
the appointment of Mike Coupe as a new 
independent non-executive director and 
a member of the audit committee. 

The board
Board composition
As at the year end the board comprised the 
chairman, two executive directors and four 
non-executive directors. The non-executive 
chairman is Tim Bridge, the chief executive 
is Rooney Anand and the senior independent 
director is Norman Murray.

The directors’ biographies are on page 34. 
The board believes that the structure and 
size of the board is appropriate and that no 
single individual or group dominates the 
decision making process. 

Independence of  
non-executive directors
In compliance with the UK Corporate 
Governance Code, more than half of the board, 
excluding the chairman, are non-executive 
directors and the board is satisfied that all of 
these were independent throughout the year, 
in that they satisfied the independence criteria 
of the code on their appointment and continue 
to satisfy those criteria. 

Tim Bridge, the chairman, was not independent 
on appointment, having previously served as 
chief executive. However, the board is satisfied 
that he shows independent judgment, that his 
performance as chairman is effective and that 
he demonstrates continued commitment to 
the role. 

Norman Murray, the senior independent 
non-executive director, was appointed to 
the board in January 2004. He has never 
been employed by the company and has 
had diverse business interests. The board 
considers that he has remained independent 
in both character and judgment, that his 
performance has been effective and that 
he has demonstrated commitment to the 

role. As well as supporting the chairman, 
a key responsibility for him is to be available 
for direct contact from shareholders. 

Diversity
The board approves of the principle 
of trying to recruit more women into 
senior management and director roles 
and, although currently we have no female 
directors on the board, we have had a female 
non-executive director in the past. When 
making new appointments, the policy of 
the company is to recruit the best possible 
individual for each role on offer, whether 
executive or non-executive. We set out a 
job specification and a profile of the likely 
characteristics, qualifications, experience 
and merits required before starting a search, 
and aim to find the individual who is best 
suited to the role, without prejudice between 
male and female candidates. 

Conscious of the desire expressed by 
Lord Davies for targets to be set and looking 
forward to where we may be by 2015, we do 
not think a percentage target is the right way 
to address the issue of women on boards for 
a board of seven people, where the key will 
be to ensure a suitable range of skills, experience 
and knowledge across the board members. 
We would, however, like to have at least one 
woman on our board by then, in order to 
achieve that particular aspect of diversity.

Leadership
Role of the board
The board is collectively responsible for 
the long-term success of the company. The 
chairman is responsible for the leadership 
and effectiveness of the board. The chief 
executive has responsibility for executing 
the company’s strategy, achieving 

Chairman’s introduction
“The board is committed to ensuring 
that high standards of corporate 
governance are maintained as we 
recognise that good governance is 
important in helping the business to 
deliver its strategy, generate shareholder 
value and safeguard our shareholders’ 
long-term interests. I am pleased 
therefore to introduce the corporate 
governance report for 2011/12.

The report contains details of the 
wide range of matters considered by 
the board and its committees during 
the year. During a year in which two 
new directors joined the board, 
one executive and one non-executive, 
it also covers the issue of diversity. 
Information is also provided on the 
board evaluation exercise which we 
conducted in 2011, the first time that 
we have used an external facilitator.

We will continue to monitor 
corporate governance developments 
going forward and will endeavour to 
ensure that we maintain good standards 
of corporate governance.” 

Tim Bridge
Chairman

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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25/07/2012   10:54:19

www.greeneking.co.uk

37

operational and financial goals and leading 
senior management in dealing with the 
operational requirements of the business. 
The non-executive directors have a 
particular responsibility to ensure that 
the strategies proposed by the executive 
directors are carefully examined and fully 
discussed and that the performance of the 
company is monitored and challenged.

The offices of chairman and chief executive 
are separate and distinct. The division of 
responsibilities between them has been 
clearly established, set out in writing and 
agreed by the board. The job descriptions 
are available on request.

The board has delegated certain responsibilities 
to standing committees, details of which 
are set out below. By delegating key 
responsibilities to these committees, the 
board is able to ensure that adequate time 
is devoted by board members to the oversight 
of key areas within their responsibility.

Operation of the board
The board has a formal schedule of matters 
which are reserved for its decision, including 
approval of the long term objectives and 
strategy, approval of budgets and financial 
statements including the report and accounts, 
acquisitions and disposals, changes to the 
structure of the group and overall corporate 
governance issues. It reviews trading 
performance and considers major capital 
expenditure and acquisition opportunities. 

Day to day management and control of the 
business is delegated to the executive directors 
and the business unit managing directors, 
who meet formally on a monthly basis together 
with other senior managers as appropriate. 

Board meetings are scheduled to be held eight 
times a year, with main meetings linked to key 
events in the company’s financial calendar, 
with the annual results and dividend being 
approved in June or July and the interim 
results and dividend in November or 
December. There is a two-day off-site 
meeting for the board in February each year 
focusing on strategy. Following approval of 
the company’s strategy, budgets are prepared 
for the next financial year to be approved by 
the board in April. Each of the main business 
units and function areas is reviewed in detail 
at least once each year, with the relevant 
managing director attending to present 
and answer questions.

Between meetings, as required, the board 
can be in frequent contact to progress the 
company’s business and, if necessary, board 
meetings can be held at short notice, such as 
that called to deal with the company’s offer 
for The Capital Pub Company in July 2011. 
Where possible, however, ad hoc committees 
of the board are appointed to deal with 
matters which it is known will need to 
be dealt with between scheduled board 
meetings. It is expected that all directors 
attend board and relevant committee meetings, 
unless they are prevented from doing so by 
prior commitments. If directors are unable 

to attend meetings in person or by telephone 
they are given the opportunity to be consulted 
and comment in advance of the meeting. 

Attendance at scheduled meetings held 
during the year is set out on page 38.

Board papers are circulated seven days 
prior to each board or committee meeting 
to ensure that directors have sufficient 
time to review them before the meeting. 
Documentation includes detailed reports 
on current trading and full papers on matters 
where the board is required to give its approval. 

The chairman holds regular, informal 
meetings with the non-executive directors 
without the executive directors being present.

Board effectiveness
Board performance and evaluation
The board believes it is appropriate to 
undertake a regular performance evaluation 
of itself, its committees and individual 
directors. An evaluation exercise was 
completed during the summer of 2011, 
facilitated by Boardroom Review, an 
independent external firm with no links to 
the company. The review took the form of 
confidential interviews with the directors 
at the time and a review of selected papers, 
with a view to considering the effectiveness 
of the board within the context of three key 
criteria, namely the ability of the board to 
achieve its objectives, its ability to work 
together effectively and the extent to which 
it maximises its use of time. The principal 
of Boardroom Review, Dr Tracy Long, 

greene King Board

The board is ultimately responsible 
for the long term success of the 
company. Its principal responsibilities 
are to:

•	 approve	the	group’s	long-term	objectives,	commercial	strategy	and	the	overall	funding	strategy;

•	 approve	the	budgets	and	financial	statements,	including	the	report	and	accounts;

•	 approve	acquisitions	and	disposals;	and

•	

	oversee	the	group’s	operations	and	review	performance	in	the	light	of	the	group’s	strategy,	objectives,	
business plans and budgets. 

s
e
e
t
t
i

m
m
o
C

s
r
e
b
m
e
M

Nomination
Reviews structure, size and composition 
of the board; makes recommendations for 
appointments; succession planning.

Remuneration
Sets remuneration policy; sets executive 
director remuneration and incentives; 
approves annual performance objectives; 
approves granting of long-term incentives.

Audit
Reviews and monitors full year and interim 
results; monitors internal financial controls; 
oversees external audit relationships; 
oversees risk management.

Tim Bridge (Chairman)

Norman Murray (Chairman)

Ian Durant (Chairman)

John Brady

Norman Murray

John Brady

Ian Durant

John Brady

Mike Coupe

_0_gnk_ar12_middle_(RB_LH).indd   2

25/07/2012   10:54:19

Corporate governance

38

Corporate governance

Corporate governanCe statement Continued

Board effectiveness continued
Board performance and evaluation 
continued
then attended one of the company’s board 
meetings to present her findings and facilitate 
a discussion on areas to be addressed.

Particular strengths were perceived to be the 
consideration of shareholder and stakeholder 
views, a thoughtful approach to control 
and risk and the management of time and 
information. Whilst the board was satisfied 
that it and its committees are operating 
effectively, key actions agreed as a result of 
the review included a greater emphasis on 
long-term strategy, more challenging input 
during meetings, greater use of board dinners 
and a clearer policy on diversity. 

In conjunction with the board evaluation, 
the senior independent director and 
non-executive directors conducted an 
appraisal of the chairman’s performance. 
The performance of the executive directors 
is reviewed annually by the remuneration 
committee in conjunction with their annual 
pay review and the payment of bonuses. 

Training and support
Each director is responsible for ensuring 
that they remain up to date in their skills and 
knowledge of the company and the training 
needs of the board and its committees are 
regularly reviewed. Particular emphasis is 
placed on ensuring that directors are aware 
of proposed legislative changes in areas such 
as remuneration, corporate governance and 
financial reporting and sector specific issues 
such as minimum pricing. All directors are 
also encouraged to visit the company’s pubs 
and restaurants and do so throughout the year. 

Newly appointed directors receive a tailored 
induction on joining the board to acquaint 
them with the company. This generally takes 
the form of meetings with other board 
members and senior management and the 
provision of an induction pack containing 

general information on the company, 
its policies and procedures, financial and 
operational information and a briefing on 
directors’ responsibilities. Matthew Fearn 
received specific refresher training on the 
obligations of directors of listed companies 
shortly after his employment commenced.

There is an agreed procedure, set out in 
writing, for directors, in furtherance of their 
duties, to take independent professional 
advice at the company’s expense. Directors 
also have access to the services of the company 
secretary. The company has in place directors’ 
and officers’ liability insurance.

Conflicts of interest
The board has the right, under the articles 
of association, to approve potential situational 
conflicts of interest. A small number of such 
potential conflicts have been approved by 
the board following disclosure by certain 
directors, in each case with the relevant 
director not taking part in any decision 
relating to their own position. Directors 
are also aware that the disclosure and 
authorisation of any potential conflict 
situation does not detract from their 
requirement to notify the board separately 
of an actual or potential conflict in relation 
to a proposed transaction by the company. 

Communication with shareholders 
The board is keen to ensure that our 
shareholders have a good understanding 
of the business and its performance, and 
that the directors are aware of any issues 
or concerns which shareholders may have. 
Communication with shareholders takes 
a variety of forms.

Institutional shareholders and analysts
There is a regular dialogue with institutional 
shareholders, including meetings after 
the announcement of the year end and 
interim results. Analysts are also invited to 
presentations at those times and separately 
to analyst trips to visit our premises and hear 

presentations on specific divisions of the 
business. The board receives regular reports 
from the chief executive on the meetings he 
and the finance director have with principal 
shareholders and receive copies of analysts’ 
reports on the company. The senior 
independent non-executive director, 
Norman Murray, is available to shareholders 
if they have concerns about governance 
issues which the normal channels of contact 
fail to resolve. 

AGM
The AGM is fully utilised as a means 
of communicating directly with private 
shareholders, who receive a brief 
presentation on the business before the 
substantive part of the meeting begins. 
They also have the full opportunity to ask 
questions and to meet directors and senior 
management informally after the meeting. 
The board aims to ensure that all members 
of the board, including in particular the 
chairmen of the board committees, are 
available to answer questions at the AGM. 

All substantive items of business at 
shareholders’ meetings are dealt with under 
separate resolutions, including a resolution to 
adopt the report and accounts. The chairman 
announces the results of the proxy voting on 
each resolution after it has been dealt with 
on a show of hands. 

Website
The company maintains a website  
(www.greeneking.co.uk) to provide  
up-to-date, detailed information on the 
company’s operations and brands, which 
includes a dedicated investor relations 
section. All company announcements 
are available on this site, as are copies 
of slides used for presentations to 
investment analysts. We are happy to 
answer questions by telephone or email 
(investorrelations@greeneking.co.uk or 
companysecretary@greeneking.co.uk).

attendanCe at meetings

Executive directors
Rooney Anand
Matthew Fearn *
Ian Bull **
Non-executive directors
Tim Bridge
John Brady
Ian Durant
Norman Murray
Mike Coupe ***

*   Matthew Fearn was appointed to the board in September 2011.

**   Ian Bull left Greene King in July 2011.

*** Mike Coupe was appointed to the board in July 2011.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

Board

Nomination
committee

Remuneration
committee

Audit 
committee

8/8
6/6
1/1

8/8
8/8
8/8
7/8
7/7

—
—
—

3/3
3/3
—
2/3
—

—
—
—

—
3/3
3/3
3/3
—

—
—
—

—
3/3
 3/3
—
 2/2

_0_gnk_ar12_middle_(RB_LH).indd   3

25/07/2012   10:54:21

 
Board committees
The board has established 
a nomination committee, 
a remuneration committee and an 
audit committee, each of which has 
formal terms of reference governing 
its method of operation. Each of the 
terms of reference, which have been 
approved by the board, are available 
on request or to download from 
the company’s website and will be 
available for inspection at the AGM.

Set out below are reports from 
each of the nomination committee, 
remuneration committee and 
audit committee.

Nomination committee report
During the year the nomination committee 
was chaired by Tim Bridge and the other 
members of the committee were Norman 
Murray and John Brady. Apart from the 
chairman, all members were considered 
by the board to be independent.

The role of the nomination committee 
is to identify, evaluate and nominate 
candidates for appointment to the board, 
to review regularly the structure, size and 
composition (including skills, knowledge 
and experience) of the board and make 
recommendations to the board with 
regard to any adjustments that are 
deemed necessary. 

The committee is also responsible for 
considering the company’s succession 
plans for board members and senior 
management, taking into account the 
challenges and opportunities facing the 
company, and what skills and expertise are 
therefore needed on the board in the future, 
and for reviewing membership of the 
board’s committees to ensure that undue 
reliance is not placed upon any individuals.

in a listed PLC, with direct involvement in 
of multi-site retailing. Hanson Green was 
appointed to assist in the search and it 
produced a candidate list containing both 
men and women. Ultimately Mike Coupe 
was selected as the best proposed appointee. 
Arrangements are made for proposed 
appointees to meet all of the non-executive 
directors prior to their appointment being 
recommended to the board.

Continuing the policy applied in 2011 and 
on the recommendation of the nomination 
committee, the board is not proposing to ask 
all directors to stand for re-election at the 
forthcoming AGM. Instead, those three 
directors who were not re-elected during 
2011 will be submitting themselves for 
re-election this year, for the reasons set 
out in the AGM notice of meeting. 

Norman Murray, the senior independent 
director who is also chairman of the 
remuneration committee and a member of the 
nomination committee, will have served for 
nine years at the end of December 2012 and 
is proposing to stand down from the board at 
that time. A process for recruiting a successor 
is already under way.

Remuneration committee report
The remuneration committee was chaired 
during the year by Norman Murray and 
the other members were Ian Durant and 
John Brady. All the members are considered 
by the board to be independent.

The role of the committee includes 
determining the remuneration policy for 
the executive directors, the chairman and 
those members of senior management 
whose details appear on page 34 and 35. 
It agrees the total individual remuneration 
package of each of the executive directors 
and those senior managers, considers the 
granting of share options and awards 
under the long-term incentive plan 
and determines bonuses payable to the 
executive directors and senior managers.

The committee met three times during the 
year, with the other non-executive directors 
frequently in attendance at those meetings. The 
chief executive, at the request of the committee, 
also attended one meeting. Attendance at these 
meetings by the committee members is shown 
in the table on page 38.

Matters considered by the committee during 
the year included the proposed appointment 
of Mike Coupe, a policy regarding board 
diversity, board succession planning, 
a reflection on the board evaluation 
exercise and the re-election of directors. 

With regard to the appointment of 
Mike Coupe, the key experience sought 
was for someone still in an executive role 

The remuneration committee met three times 
during the year. The chairman and the chief 
executive, at the request of the committee, 
attend its meetings. The chairman does not 
participate in any discussions relating to his 
own remuneration. The chief executive is 
consulted by the committee on its proposals, 
but does not participate in any discussions 
relating to his own remuneration. The 
committee’s external adviser, NewBridgeStreet 
Consultants, attended one of the meetings 
to present a review of the company’s 
remuneration structure.

Details of the company’s policies on 
remuneration, service contracts and 
compensation payments are set out in the 
remuneration report on pages 41 to 47.

www.greeneking.co.uk

39

Audit committee report
The audit committee was chaired during the 
year by Ian Durant. The other members of 
the committee were John Brady and, from 
his appointment in July 2011, Mike Coupe. 
All members are considered by the board to 
be independent. The board is satisfied that 
Ian Durant has recent and relevant financial 
experience, as the former finance director 
of Liberty International plc, since renamed 
as Capital Shopping Centres Group PLC.

The role of the audit committee is to review 
the financial reporting process, and the 
related external audit conclusions, of the full 
year and interim results, in each case prior 
to their submission to the board. It is also 
responsible for reviewing the company’s 
internal financial control systems, advising 
the board on the appointment of external 
auditor, overseeing the relationship with the 
external auditor, reviewing the company’s 
whistle blowing procedures and considering 
the need for a full internal audit function. 
It also reviews the group’s risk management 
policies and procedures prior to submission 
to the board and receives detailed reports on 
the risk management processes within the 
business units. Regular updates are provided 
to the committee on regulatory, accounting 
and reporting developments under relevant 
financial standards and codes.

There is a planned programme of meetings 
during the year to deal with all matters within 
the committee’s sphere of responsibility. The 
committee had three meetings and on each 
occasion the finance director and senior 
members of the finance function attended. 
One meeting was attended by the chairman of 
the company. The external auditor attended 
all of the meetings. There is an opportunity 
at each meeting for the committee to discuss 
matters privately with the auditor without 
management present. In addition, the 
chairman of the committee is in regular 
contact with the external audit partner to 
discuss matters relevant to the company.

Financial statements and audit
Before the start of each audit cycle, the 
committee reviewed the audit plan presented 
by the auditor and agreed the scope of the 
audit work. During the audit process the 
committee kept under review the consistency 
of accounting policies on a year to year basis 
and across the group, and the methods used to 
account for significant or unusual transactions, 
including in particular the assessment of 
impairment losses and tax. 

Corporate governance

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40

Corporate governance

Corporate governanCe statement Continued

Audit committee report continued
Financial statements and audit continued
The financial statements and interim results 
were reviewed in detail prior to their submission 
to the board. Following the audit the committee 
discussed issues arising from the audit, and any 
matters the auditor wished to discuss. The 
committee also assessed the effectiveness 
of the audit process through discussion with 
the auditor and by reviewing the management 
letter to ensure that the auditor had a good 
understanding of the business and receiving 
and reviewing a report from the Audit 
Inspection Unit on Ernst & Young LLP.

External auditor
During the course of the year the audit 
committee monitored the relationship with 
the auditor and assessed their performance, 
cost-effectiveness, objectivity, independence 
and suitability for re-appointment. The board 
is satisfied that the auditor are independent 
of the company and that best practice is being 
observed. A new audit partner was put in 
place during the year, following the planned 
retirement of the previous incumbent, and a 
suitable induction programme was arranged 
for him. Ernst & Young LLP report to the 
committee regularly to confirm compliance 
with their own policies, procedures and 
ethical standards in relation to auditor 
objectivity and independence. 

The audit committee has established a policy 
in relation to the use of Ernst & Young LLP 
for non-audit work. The company will award 
non-audit work to the firm which provides 
the best commercial solution for the work in 
question, taking into account the skills and 
experience of the firm, the nature of the 
services involved, the fees payable for the 
work in question, with particular attention 
to the level of fees for non-audit services 
(both for individual services and in aggregate) 
relative to the amount of the audit fee and 
whether there are safeguards in place to 
mitigate to an acceptable level any threat to 
objectivity and independence in the conduct 
of the audit resulting from such services. 

Work estimated to cost in excess of £25,000 
and for which the auditor are being 
considered are put out to tender unless agreed 
otherwise by the chairman of the audit 
committee. The finance director may approve 
specific engagements up to £50,000 and 
£100,000 cumulatively, and the chairman 
of the audit committee may approve 
engagements up to £100,000 and £200,000 

cumulatively, with fees in excess of those limits 
being subject to approval of the full committee. 
During the year the company made limited use 
of specialist teams within Ernst & Young LLP 
for non-audit work such as taxation advice, 
primarily in relation to the resolution of legacy 
tax issues on which Ernst & Young LLP 
specialists had originally advised. The total 
fees paid to Ernst & Young LLP amounted 
to £324,000, of which £27,000 related to 
non-audit work.

Internal audit
The committee reviewed the company’s 
internal audit function, which currently 
focuses primarily on the group’s Retail 
division, although its remit is being expanded. 
Elsewhere within the group a combination of 
the external audit procedures and the types of 
financial risks involved are felt to be such that 
a wider internal audit function is not required. 
This will be reviewed on an annual basis. 

Other matters
In reviewing the whistle blowing policy for the 
group the committee recommended a change 
to the policy which has been implemented by 
management. The terms of reference of the 
committee were also reviewed and updated. 

Internal control and risk management
The board has overall responsibility for the 
group’s risk management framework and 
systems of internal control and for reviewing 
their effectiveness. The audit committee 
monitors and reviews the group’s internal 
controls and risks on a regular basis, 
and reports to the board on its findings. 
The implementation of risk management 
and internal control systems is the 
responsibility of the executive directors 
and other senior management.

A summary of the risk management 
framework is set out on page 26. 
The risk management framework and 
internal control systems are designed 
to manage, and not to eliminate, the risk 
of failure to achieve business objectives. 
They can provide reasonable, but not 
absolute, assurance that the group’s assets 
are safeguarded and that the financial 
information used within the business 
and for external reporting is reliable. 

The company has in place procedures to 
assess the key risks to which it is exposed 
and has formalised the control environment 
needed to address these and other issues. 
There are processes in place which 
accord with the guidance of the Turnbull 

Committee on internal control, and these 
remained in place up to the date of this 
report. The board is satisfied that there are 
no significant weaknesses in these systems.

The key elements of the internal control 
framework are:

•	

•	

 the schedule of matters reserved 
for the board;

 the group’s defined management 
structure with suitable authority 
limits and responsibilities, staffed 
by appropriate personnel;

•	 regular updates for the board on strategy;

•	

 a comprehensive planning and financial 
reporting procedure including annual 
budgets and a three year strategic plan, 
both of which are reviewed and approved 
by the board; 

•	 ongoing monitoring by both the board 

and senior management of performance 
against budgets, through the periodic 
reporting of detailed management 
accounts and key performance indicators;

•	 ongoing monitoring by the board of 
compliance with financial covenants;

•	 a centralised financial reporting system, 
with procedures designed to gather and 
present information in a consistent way 
that facilitates the production of the 
consolidated accounts; 

•	 clearly defined evaluation and approval 
processes for acquisitions and disposals, 
capital expenditure and project control, 
with escalating levels of authority 
(including board approval for major 
acquisitions and disposals), detailed 
appraisal and review procedures and 
post-completion reviews;

•	 an internal audit team responsible 

for reviewing controls in the group’s 
Retail division and the availability of 
comprehensive information from the 
EPOS till system; and

•	 documented policies to cover bribery 

and whistle blowing and regular updates 
on any incidents. 

DTR disclosure
The information required by DTR 7.1 and 
DTR 7.2 is set out in this report, except 
for information required under DTR 7.2.6 
which is set out in the directors’ report. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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41

strategy and the interests of 
shareholders. There will be a full 
consultation with the company’s 
major investors and the new LTIP 
will be subject to shareholder 
approval at next year’s AGM.

The main body of this report is 
divided, as required by legislation, 
into two parts, the first containing 
unaudited information, principally 
on our policies, and the second 
containing audited information, 
principally relating to the remuneration 
paid to directors over the 2011/12 
financial year, which the company’s 
auditor are required to audit and 
to state whether in their opinion that 
part has been prepared in accordance 
with the Companies Act 2006.

Shareholders will be asked to vote 
on this remuneration report, as an 
ordinary resolution, at the company’s 
AGM, where we hope to receive 
your support.” 

Norman Murray
Chairman of the remuneration committee
27 June 2012 

direCtors’ remuneration report

executives and believe that, in addition 
to the philosophical points mentioned 
above, we ensure that there is fairness 
and common sense applied to our 
thinking. The non-executive directors 
believe that we have an excellent 
management team which must be paid 
in line with comparable businesses, 
provided that performance is delivered 
and value is created for shareholders.

For the year under review the 
business has delivered a good set of 
results. Profit before tax has increased 
by 8.6% and our share price was up 
year-end on year-end. The dividend 
increased by 7.4% and is well covered. 
In addition to our financial and 
stock market performance we have 
continued to make progress on 
our strategic priorities, highlighted 
elsewhere in this report. I am pleased 
that this performance has generated 
good bonuses and a healthy level of 
likely vesting under our long-term 
incentive plan, both in terms of 
awards vesting this year based on 
performance over the three years 
to April 2012 and the pipeline 
of unvested awards based on 
subsequent three year periods.

Notwithstanding the strong performance 
we continue to exercise restraint in pay 
levels. Salary increases for executives 
have been modest and no higher than 
the average of the workforce generally.

We are not proposing any changes to 
the remuneration policy this year, but 
the long-term incentive plan (LTIP) 
reaches the end of its ten year life 
next year, so we will be considering 
its replacement over the forthcoming 
year, and reviewing the remuneration 
policy generally so as to ensure that 
it remains aligned with our business 

Introduction from the chairman 
of the committee
“I am pleased to introduce our 
directors’ remuneration report 
which provides further details 
on the remuneration policies for 
our executive directors and senior 
management and on how these were 
applied in terms of remuneration paid 
during the 2011/12 financial year.

The remuneration committee’s 
overall philosophy and approach 
to its responsibilities are driven by 
two key principles, namely ‘pay for 
performance’ and the belief that the 
remuneration structure should ensure 
that there is close alignment between 
the interests of senior management 
and those of our shareholders. We are 
very aware of the current environment 
in which the committee must determine 
appropriate remuneration packages for 

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Corporate governance

42

Corporate governance

direCtors’ remuneration report Continued

unaudited 
inFormation
The remuneration committee
The remuneration committee is appointed 
by the board. During the year the members 
were Norman Murray (chairman of the 
committee), Ian Durant and John Brady. 
All of the committee members were 
regarded by the board as independent 
non-executive directors. 

The role of the committee includes 
determining the remuneration policy for the 
executive directors, the chairman and those 
members of senior management whose 
details appear on pages 34 and 35. It agrees 
the total individual remuneration package of 
each of the executive directors and of those 
senior managers, considers the granting of 
awards under the long-term incentive plan 
and determines bonuses payable to the 
executive directors and senior managers.

It approves the contracts of the executive 
directors and those senior executives referred 
to above and any compensation arrangements 
arising from their termination. The committee 
is made aware of, and takes into account, the 
salary levels of the wider senior management 
team and of the incentive arrangements 
operating throughout the company.

Advisers to the 
remuneration committee
The committee seeks advice on general 
remuneration matters and comparator 
information from New Bridge Street, 
a brand of Aon plc. Aon plc provides insurance 
broking and consultancy services to the group. 

The committee is satisfied that the provision 
of these services does not in any way prejudice 
the position of New Bridge Street as 
independent advisers to the committee. 

Rooney Anand, chief executive, attends 
meetings of the committee and provides 
advice to help the committee determine 
appropriate remuneration and incentive 
packages for the finance director and the 
other senior executives, but he leaves the 
meeting when his own remuneration is 
being discussed. 

Remuneration policy
Within the overall philosophy, the committee’s 
policy is to ensure that the group offers a 
competitive, and not excessive, remuneration 
package to ensure that it can attract, motivate 
and retain high quality directors able to deliver 
continued growth of the business and achieve 
the group’s strategic aims. 

The policy provides an appropriate balance 
between fixed and variable remuneration, 
with a significant proportion of the package 
being performance related pay measured 
over one and three year performance 
periods. Further details are provided below. 

The committee considers whether there 
are any aspects of the remuneration policy 
which could inadvertently encourage 
executives to take inappropriate risk 
and is satisfied that the policy remains 
appropriate in this regard. The committee 
also ensures that the incentive structure for 
executive directors and senior management 
does not raise environmental, social 
or governance risks by inadvertently 
motivating irresponsible behaviour.

Components oF direCtors’ remuneration

When setting remuneration for the executive 
directors and senior management, the 
committee is made aware of and has regard 
to pay and conditions elsewhere within the 
group and endeavours to ensure that pay 
rises for executive and non-executive 
directors are generally comparable with 
those being applied in other parts of the 
group. The committee is also made aware 
of some of the bonus plans operated for 
managers throughout the group, and notes 
that all staff with the requisite qualifying 
service are able to participate in the 
company’s share save scheme.

Executive directors’ potential 
overall remuneration profile
In 2012/13, if the executive directors earn 
a maximum annual bonus award of 150% 
of salary and are granted an LTIP award 
of 133% of salary, basic salary will 
represent 26% of total remuneration, 
with performance related elements of 
39% attributable to annual bonus and 35% 
to LTIP (excluding pension provision), 
as shown in the chart on page 43. 

Components of directors’ 
remuneration
The key elements of the remuneration 
package of each executive director 
are set out in the table below.

Element
Base salary

Annual 
performance 
bonus

Long-term 
incentive plan 
(LTIP)

Pension

Description

Objective

Performance period

Annual salary paid to executive 
directors

To ensure that the executive 
directors receive an appropriate 
level of fixed remuneration 
having regard to their skills 
and experience

n/a

Conditions

n/a

A maximum of 150% of salary can 
be earned by the executive directors 
during the year, one third of 
which is dependent on the 
achievement of a stretching 
economic profit target for FY12/13, 
with the remaining two-thirds 
dependent on a range of financial 
and non-financial targets

To incentivise executive directors 
to deliver superior performance 
during the course of a year, and 
to promote retention and 
stability amongst the senior 
management team

1 year (with the economic profit 
element (up to 50% of salary) 
subject to deferral into shares 
for 12 months)

Achievement of challenging 
performance goals over the course  
of a financial year, including 
economic profit, group profitability 
and return on capital employed

The LTIP awards are in respect of 
a maximum of 133% of salary for 
the executive directors, payable at 
the end of the performance period  
if the conditions have been met

To incentivise the executive 
directors to deliver superior 
levels of long-term performance 
for the benefit of shareholders, 
thereby aligning their interests 
with those of our shareholders

3 years

The company contributes to 
defined contribution pension 
arrangements for the executive 
directors or provides cash in 
lieu where appropriate

To ensure that directors 
are provided with an appropriate 
pension provision

n/a

A combination of two challenging 
conditions apply, namely an EPS 
target (which accounts for 40% 
of the total) and a free cash flow 
target (which accounts for the 
remaining 60% of the total award)

n/a

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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Base salary
The base salary of the executives, which 
is reviewed annually or when a change 
in responsibility occurs, is intended to 
reflect their responsibilities, market value 
and sustained performance level. In setting pay 
levels, the committee considers current market 
practice and makes comparisons against a 
selection of other companies determined by 
reference to turnover, market capitalisation 
and operational details. For the 2012/13 
financial year overall pay rises across the group 
have generally been limited to 2.5% and, for the 
executive directors and senior management 
team, the average pay rises were 2.4%. 

Bonus 
Bonus payments are determined by the 
remuneration committee and awarded 
where justified by performance. For the 
financial year 2012/13, the executive directors 
will be eligible to receive an annual incentive 
bonus, the maximum amount being 150% of 
salary, for the achievement of stretch targets. 
Two-thirds of this amount, up to a maximum 
of 100% of salary, is based on pre-determined 
performance metrics, set at the start of the 
year, based on group profitability, return on 
capital employed, and a range of financial 
and non-financial specific targets relevant 
to each individual.

The remaining one third of the bonus 
entitlement, equal to a maximum of 50% 
of salary, is subject to a separate performance 
condition based on challenging levels of 
annual economic profit performance to 
be achieved in 2012/13 in excess of the 
company’s strategic plan. This element 
of the annual bonus is deferred into shares 
for 1 year. The deferred bonus and would 
be forfeited in the event that the relevant 
director or employee leaves the group, other 
than as a good leaver, during the deferral 
period, to improve motivation, lock-in and 

exeCutive direCtors’ potential 
overall remuneration proFile

Basic salary
Maximum bonus
LTIP granted

26%

35%

35%

26%

39%

39%

alignment of interest. In addition, the 
one third of the bonus based on economic 
profit will be reclaimable by the company in 
exceptional circumstances of misstatement 
or misconduct.

Economic profit (operating profit before 
exceptional items less the weighted average 
cost of capital multiplied by capital employed) 
is an important management tool and its 
use in the annual bonus complements this 
strategic focus. The use of economic profit 
also provides a balance to the rest of the 
bonus plan.

The additional focus on economic profit 
encourages the management team to 
target medium-term decisions to achieve 
growth by: ensuring better deployment of 
capital expenditure; encouraging further 
improvements in relation to returns on 
invested capital; freeing up assets where 
higher economic profit can be gained by 
the group; and extracting higher returns 
from existing uninvested assets. 

The target set for 2012/13 is to achieve a 
stretching level of economic profit over and 
above the budget for the year, with a sliding 
scale for vesting which will ensure that 
management, in addition to the bonus being 
limited to a maximum 50% of salary, will 
not benefit from more than 20% of the uplift 
in economic profit, with the remaining 80% 
being retained for the benefit of shareholders. 
There will be disclosure in the directors’ 
remuneration report at the end of the year of 
the basis on which the bonuses were payable.

Long-term incentives
Directors are entitled each year to an LTIP 
award equivalent to a maximum of 133% 
of base salary. 

Awards in 2012 will be made in the form 
of restricted forfeitable shares, on which 
dividends will be held in escrow pending 
vesting to be released to the directors to 
the extent that the awards vest. 

All LTIP awards are subject to two 
performance measures, namely an adjusted 
free cash flow condition and an earnings 
per share condition, both measured over 
a three-year period. There is a 60:40 
weighting in favour of the cash measure, 
given the importance of cash management 
as a medium term business priority. The use 
of two separate performance conditions is 
designed to provide a rounded assessment 
of the company’s financial performance.

The three-year adjusted free cashflow 
measure will be determined by reference 
to net cash flow from operating activities 
less capital expenditure. Net cash flow 
from operating activities will include 
the impact of changes in working capital, 
and interest and tax payments, but will be 
adjusted to exclude exceptional items at the 
discretion of the remuneration committee 
in consultation with the audit committee. 

The capex-related deduction in the free 
cashflow measure will be for capital 

www.greeneking.co.uk

43

expenditure on properties that were 
within the estate at the beginning of 
the performance measurement period, 
where that capital expenditure has 
not been funded from property disposal 
proceeds. Free cashflow has been chosen as 
a performance condition because converting 
EBITDA to positive cashflows to support 
debt repayment, continued investment 
in the business and the ongoing payment 
of dividends is a key measure for both 
management and shareholders. 

The target range for the adjusted free cash 
flow performance target for the 2012/13 
awards will be that the aggregate adjusted 
free cash flow of the company for the three 
financial years ending in April 2013, 2014 
and 2015 must be more than £262m to vest at 
the minimum level and at least £302m to vest 
in full. Measuring on an aggregate three-year 
basis (rather than the more common approach 
of focusing on the end-year only of the three) 
will ensure that there will be a focus on 
delivering cash across all three years. 

The adjusted earnings per share part of the 
performance condition for awards granted in 
2012/13 will be based on a sliding scale range 
of ‘pence per share’ targets for the 2014/15 
financial year end, with between 0% and 
100% of that part of the award vesting 
depending on the extent to which the targets 
are met. The committee does not consider it 
appropriate to disclose the range due to its 
price sensitive nature, but does consider it to 
be appropriately challenging in the current 
economic climate. There will be disclosure 
of the conditions and the extent to which 
they have been achieved in the remuneration 
report at the time each award vests.

It will not be possible for the company to make 
any further awards under the current LTIP 
scheme after the 2012/13 financial year. The 
company proposes to consult with shareholders 
during the course of this financial year with 
regard to a replacement LTIP scheme.

Outstanding LTIP awards
The 2009 LTIP awards will vest at a rate 
of 100% on the third anniversary of their 
grant in December 2012 provided that the 
recipients remain employed by the group. 
The performance targets, vesting levels and 
the actual targets achieved are set out below:

Vesting condition
EPS (represented 40% of the award)
Figure for nil vesting
Target for 50% vesting
Target for 100% vesting
Figure achieved
Free cash flow (represented 60% 
of the award)
Figure for nil vesting
Target for 50% vesting
Target for 100% vesting
Figure achieved

£190.0m
£210.0m
£230.0m
£273.9m

38.0p
44.0p
50.0p
53.0p

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Corporate governance

 
44
44

Corporate governance
Corporate governance

direCtors’ remuneration report Continued

Components of directors’ 
remuneration continued
Outstanding LTIP awards continued
The 2010 and the 2011 LTIP awards will 
only vest to the extent that the relevant 
performance targets are met over the three 
financial years ending in April 2013 and 
April 2014 respectively. As with the 2009 
award, a maximum of 60% of each award 
will vest if an adjusted free cash flow 
performance condition has been met and 
the remaining 40% of the award will vest 
if an earnings per share performance 
condition has been met. The target range 
for the aggregate adjusted free cash flow 
company for the relevant three financial 
years, which is calculated on a straight-line 
basis from 0% to 100%, is set out below. 

Target level
Nil vesting
50% vesting
100% vesting

2010 award
2011 award
3 years to 
3 years to 
April 2013
April 2014
£230.4m £250.0m
£250.4m £270.0m
£270.4m £290.0m

The earnings per share performance 
conditions set a range for the EPS for the 
financial year ending in April 2013 (for the 
2010 LTIP) or April 2014 (for the 2011 LTIP) 
which the remuneration committee 
considered to be sufficiently challenging 
in the market conditions. 

The remuneration committee is advised 
on a regular basis as to how actual 
performance is tracking against the relevant 
targets. In relation to the 2010 and 2011 LTIP 
awards, based on the very good recent 
performance of the business and assuming 
that the business units continue to meet 
their stretching strategic plan targets, it is 
anticipated that the business will meet the 
upper quartile of the free cash flow target 
and the upper quartile of the earnings per 
share target. 

Details as to the extent to which the targets 
have actually been met and the awards have 
vested will be provided at the end of each 
three year performance period.

Pension and life assurance
The pension arrangements for the executive 
directors are on a defined contribution basis, 
with the company making a contribution at 
the rate of 25% for Rooney Anand and 20% for 
Matthew Fearn. Directors are given an option 
to have pension contributions above the £50,000 
annual limit or above the total lifetime limit 
imposed by the government paid to them in 
cash. No element of remuneration other than 
annual pay is treated as pensionable. Both 
executive directors participate in a group 
death-in-service insurance scheme, with death 
benefits in excess of the HMRC maximum being 
provided through additional insurance. The cost 
of this insurance is disclosed as a non-cash 
benefit in the emoluments table below. 

Benefits in kind
The range of taxable benefits available 
to executive directors is listed on page 45.

Employee share schemes
In common with all other employees, 
the executive directors are also entitled to 
participate in the company’s sharesave plan. 
Further details are given later in this report.

Remuneration from other company 
directorships
Since September 2007 Rooney Anand 
has served as a non-executive director of 
Drive Assist Holdings Limited, a company 
unconnected with the group. He is entitled 
to receive and retain for his personal benefit 
£53k per annum from that company by way 
of director’s fees.

Remuneration for non-executive 
directors
The fees paid to the chairman and the other 
non-executive directors are determined by 
the board as a whole. They are agreed after 
taking external advice and making market 
comparisons, and relate to the services of the 
directors in connection with the company’s 
business. The non-executive directors do 
not have service agreements and cannot 
participate in the pension scheme, the 
bonus scheme or the share option schemes. 

The following table sets out the current 
non-executive directors’ fees:

Role
Chairman
Basic fee
Additional fees for chairing 
the audit or remuneration 
committee

2012/13 fee
£170,000
£43,000

£7,000

Service agreements
Newly appointed executive directors 
are offered a service agreement with a 
notice period of 1 year. In the event of the 
employment of an executive director being 
terminated, the committee would pay due 
regard to best practice and take account of 
the individual’s duty to mitigate their loss. 

Rooney Anand, whose contract with the 
company commenced on 6 August 2001, 
is subject to a 1 year notice period from the 
company. His contract does not contain any 
additional terms relating to compensation 
for termination of employment. The terms 
of his appointment as chief executive 
were agreed and set out in a letter dated 
24 December 2004.

Matthew Fearn’s contract may be terminated 
by the company on giving 1 year’s notice, 
without any additional terms relating to 
compensation for termination of employment.

Non-executive directors are appointed pursuant 
to letters of appointment for three-year periods. 
The table below sets out the start and expiry 
date of their respective appointments.

Director
Tim Bridge
John Brady
Ian Durant
Norman Murray
Mike Coupe

Date of 
appointment
2 May 05
24 Jun 05
16 Mar 07
1 Jan 04
26 Jul 11

Present 
expiry date
1 May 14
23 Jun 14
15 Mar 13
31 Dec 12
25 Jul 14

The appointments of all these non-executive 
directors can be terminated by the company 
at any time on three months’ written notice, 
notwithstanding the present expiry dates above.

perFormanCe oF greene King 

A graph showing the total shareholder return of Greene King relative to the FTSE All-Share Index over the last five years is shown below. 
We have chosen this comparator group as it is the most appropriate market index of which the company is a member. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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45

audited inFormation
Directors’ emoluments

Tim Bridge *
Rooney Anand
John Brady *
Ian Bull 1
Mike Coupe 2*
Ian Durant *
Matthew Fearn 3
Norman Murray * 

*  Non-executive.

1  Ian Bull left on 1 July 2011.

2  Mike Coupe joined on 26 July 2011.

3  Matthew Fearn joined on 1 September 2011.

Base 
salary
2012
£’000
—
516
—
57
—
—
213
—
786

Annual 
fees
2012
£’000
165
—
43
—
33
49
—
49
339

Basic
annual 
bonus
2012
£’000
—
477
—
—
—
—
192
—
669

Non-cash
 benefits 
2012
£’000
31
4
—
1
—
—
4
—
40

Other 
cash 
benefits 
2012
£’000
—
16
—
2
—
—
5
—
23

Cash 
in lieu
 of pension 
contribution
2012
£’000
—
108
—
—
—
—
10
—
118

Total 
2012
£’000
196
1,121
43
60
33
49
424
49
1,975

Total
2011
£’000
195
1,038
41
662
—
46
—
46
2,028

No payments were made to any third parties in respect of any directors’ services. Non-cash benefits principally include the provision 
of company cars, fuel for company cars, life assurance and private medical insurance. Other cash benefits include cash allowances 
paid in lieu of company cars.

Deferred share bonus scheme
In addition to the annual bonus figures above, £110k (2011: £253k) of bonus will be payable to Rooney Anand and £46k (2011: £nil) to Matthew Fearn 
under the terms of the economic profit deferred share bonus scheme introduced in 2010. Additional economic profit of £3.2m in excess of the 
strategic plan was achieved against a maximum target of £7.5m. This results in a payout of 42.7% of the economic profit element of the bonus 
scheme, equating to 21.4% of Rooney Anand’s salary and 14.2% of Matthew Fearn’s salary (the latter’s award having been pro-rated as he joined 
part way through the year). The bonus will be deferred in the form of restricted shares, which will be acquired shortly after the preliminary 
announcement of the results. They will be entitled to any dividends paid on those shares, which will be released to them if they remain in 
employment for a period of 1 year from the date that the shares are acquired. 

Directors’ pensions
Amounts paid or payable to the self-invested personal pension schemes of the executive directors made by the company in respect of the 
period are shown in the table below. 

Rooney Anand
Ian Bull
Matthew Fearn

2012
£’000
20
12
33

2011
£’000
126
65
—

During the course of the year Rooney Anand reached the lifetime allowance for contributions to his pension fund and accordingly no further 
contributions will be made to his pension. 

Tim Bridge is a pensioner member of the group’s defined benefit scheme. His pension is equivalent to 1/45th of his final pensionable earnings 
for each year of service, with a pro rata payment for a part year, subject to HMRC limits. His final pensionable earnings were those received 
immediately prior to him ceasing to be chief executive.

Two former directors receive additional pension income from the company. John Bridge, who retired as a director on 31 December 1989, 
receives a pension of £31,000 pa in excess of his scheme entitlements and Bernard Tickner, who retired as a director on 27 August 1992, 
receives a pension of £25,000 pa in excess of his scheme entitlements. As required by law, both of these figures are stated net of their 
company-funded pension in payment at 31 March 1997.

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Corporate governance

direCtors’ remuneration report Continued

Long-term incentive plan
A summary of the directors’ interests in options granted under the long-term incentive plan (LTIP) is shown below.

Date of 
grant

Type of 
award
8 Aug 08 restricted forfeitable shares

Outstanding 
as at 
1 May 2011
82,000

Granted 
during the 
period
—

Vested 
during the 
period
—

Lapsed 
during the 
period
82,000

Rooney Anand

9 Dec 09 restricted forfeitable shares

153,000

12 Aug 10 restricted forfeitable shares

160,000

—

—

4 Aug 11

restricted forfeitable shares

—

147,000

—

—

—

—

—

—

Outstanding 
as at 

29 April 2012 Vesting date

—

153,000

Performance 
period
— May 2008 
– May 2011
9 Dec 12 May 2009 
– May 2012
160,000 12 Aug 13 May 2010 
– May 2013
4 Aug 14 May 2011 
– May 2014

147,000

The market price of the shares on 4 August 2011, when the last awards were made, was 454.7p, although the number of shares comprising 
the award was determined by reference to the closing market price on 3 August 2011, namely 465.2p. For details of the performance 
conditions on the LTIP awards please see pages 43 to 44.

During the year the 2008 LTIP awards lapsed on the third anniversary of their grant as a result of the remuneration committee having determined 
that the performance conditions applicable to those awards had not been met. Total gains made by directors under the LTIP in the period ended 
29 April 2012 therefore amounted to £nil (2011: £nil). In total, LTIP awards made for three years (2006, 2007 and 2008) all lapsed due to the 
performance conditions not having been met.

No changes were made during the year or since the year end to the date of this report, to the terms and conditions of any awards then 
outstanding. Save as set out above, no awards vested or lapsed during the year. There have been no other changes to the date of this report. 

Executive share options
A summary of the directors’ interests in options granted under the company’s executive share option schemes is shown below. 

Tim Bridge

Rooney Anand

Ian Bull*

Option price 
(p)
332
408
408
528
449
598
449

Outstanding 
as at 
1 May 2011
112,127
99,669
54,817
69,078
102,160
24,916
67,276

Granted 
during the 
period
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

Exercised 
during the 
period
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

Lapsed 
during the 
period
—
—
—
—
102,160
24,916
67,276

Outstanding 
as at 
29 April 2012
112,127
99,669
54,817
69,078
—
—
—

Date of grant
1 Aug 03
6 Aug 04
6 Aug 04
4 Aug 05
8 Aug 08
11 Jan 06
8 Aug 08

Exercise period
1 Aug 2006 – 31 July 2013
6 Aug 2007 – 5 Aug 2014
6 Aug 2007 – 5 Aug 2014
4 Aug 2008 – 3 Aug 2015
—
—
—

All relevant figures adjusted for 2-for-1 share split in September 2005 and the rights issue in May 2009.

*  Ian Bull left on 1 July 2011 at which time his options lapsed.

No changes were made during the year to the terms and conditions of any options then outstanding (2011: no changes). There have been no options 
exercised and no other changes since the year end to the date of this report. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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47

Sharesave scheme
The company has operated an HMRC approved sharesave scheme for a number of years. Options are granted over the company’s ordinary 
shares at an option price which, at board discretion, is at a discount of up to 20% of the closing price at the time of granting. The company has 
historically granted all such options at a 20% discount. 

The interests of directors in options granted under the sharesave scheme were as follows:

Rooney Anand
Matthew Fearn

Outstanding 
as at 
1 May 2011
—
—

Granted 
during 
the period
—
2,325

Exercised 
during 
the period
—
—

Lapsed 
during the 
period
—
—

Outstanding 
as at 
29 April 2012
—
2,325

Option price 
(p)
—
387

Exercise period
—
1 April – 30 September 2015

All options outstanding as at 29 April 2012 were granted at an option price below the year-end closing price.

Share incentive plan
The directors’ beneficial interests in Greene King shares resulting from participation in the company’s HMRC approved share incentive plan 
are reflected in their shareholding data in the directors’ report.

Share price during the period
The closing price of the company’s shares on 27 April 2012 (being the last business day before the financial period end) was 512.5p 
(2011: 489.6p). The closing price of the company’s shares during the period ranged between 410p and 523.5p. 

Approved by the board of directors on 27 June 2012.

Norman Murray
Chairman of the remuneration committee
27 June 2012

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Corporate governance

48

Corporate governance

direCtors’ report

The directors present their annual report 
together with the audited financial statements 
of the company and group for the fifty-two 
weeks ended 29 April 2012.

Profits and dividends
The group’s profit before taxation 
and exceptional items for the period 
amounted to £152.0m (2011: £140.0m). 
An interim dividend of 6.7p per share 
(2011: 6.3p) was paid on 27 January 2012. 
The directors recommend a final dividend 
of 18.1p per ordinary share (2011: 16.8p), 
making a total dividend for the year of 
24.8p per share (2011: 23.1p). Subject to the 
approval of shareholders at the AGM, the final 
dividend will be paid on 10 September 2012 
to shareholders on the register at the close 
of business on 10 August 2012.

Activities 
Greene King plc is the holding company 
for a group whose principal activities are 
operating managed, tenanted and leased 
public houses, brewing beer, and wholesaling 
beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks. 

Business review
Under the provisions of the Companies 
Act 2006, the company is required to produce 
a business review containing a fair review of the 
business of the company and a description 
of the principal risks and uncertainties 
facing the company. Shareholders are 
referred to the chief executive’s review, the 
operational review, the financial review, the 
KPIs, the risks and uncertainties section and 
the corporate social responsibility report for 
the required information. They are intended 
to provide a balanced and comprehensive 
analysis of the development and performance 
of the business of the group during the 
financial year and the position of the 
group at the end of the year.

Directors
Details of the current directors are given 
on page 34. All of the directors held 
office throughout the period apart from 
Matthew Fearn, finance director, who 
was appointed on 1 September 2011 and 

Mike Coupe, non-executive director, who 
was appointed on 26 July 2011. In addition 
Ian Bull held office until 1 July 2011. 

Under article 85 of the company’s articles 
of association no directors are due to retire by 
rotation this year. However, Rooney Anand, 
Ian Durant and Norman Murray are offering 
themselves for re-election at the forthcoming 
AGM. For an explanation of the board’s 
approach to the annual re-election of directors, 
please refer to the AGM notice of meeting.

Details of the directors’ service agreements, 
remuneration, and interests in share options 
and awards are set out in the directors’ 
remuneration report. There have been 
no changes in their interests between 
29 April 2012 and the date of this report.

Interests in contracts
No director had a material interest in any 
contract, other than an employment contract, 
that was significant in relation to the group’s 
business at any time during the period. 

Substantial shareholdings
The company has been notified of the 
following interests in 3% or more of the 
issued share capital of the company.

Standard Life  
Investments Ltd
Capital Research &  
Management Company
AXA S.A.
Legal & General  
Group plc

29 April
 2012

26 June
 2012

6.36%

6.36%

5.19%
4.99%

5.19%
4.99%

3.98% Below 3%

Share capital
Details of the authorised and issued share 
capital of the company, which comprises 
a single class of shares, ordinary shares 
of 12.5p, are set out in note 26 to the accounts. 
The rights attaching to the shares are set out in 
the articles of association. There are no special 
control rights in relation to the company’s 
shares and the company is not aware of any 
agreements between holders of securities that 

may result in restrictions on the transfer 
of securities or on voting rights.

A total of 542,138 ordinary shares, with an 
aggregate nominal value of £67,767 were 
allotted, for cash, during the period in 
connection with the company’s sharesave 
and executive option schemes. In addition 
a further 117,867 shares were acquired by 
the company to satisfy awards under the 
company’s deferred share option scheme.

The trustees of the company’s employee 
benefit trust (EBT), Kleinwort Benson 
(Guernsey) Trustees Limited, transferred 
21,090 ordinary shares to employees to 
satisfy the vesting of LTIP awards or to 
recognise their long service. The company 
makes regular use of the EBT to satisfy the 
exercise of share options and will make 
market purchases of the company’s shares 
from time to time to ensure that it has 
sufficient shares to enable it to do so. 

Voting rights
In a general meeting of the company, on a 
show of hands, every member who is present 
in person or by proxy and entitled to vote 
shall have one vote. On a poll every member 
who is present in person or by proxy shall 
have one vote for every share of which they 
are the holder. The AGM notice gives full 
details of deadlines for exercising voting 
rights in respect of resolutions to be 
considered at the meeting.

Under the Free4All Employee Profit Share 
Scheme, participants are the beneficial owners 
of the shares but not the registered owners. 
The registered owner is the trustee, Killik & Co 
Trustees Ltd. The trustee will invite 
participants to direct it on the exercise of any 
voting rights attaching to the shares held under 
the scheme by the trustee on the participants’ 
behalf. The trustee will only be entitled to vote 
on a show of hands if all directions received 
from participants are identical. The trustee 
is under no obligation to call for a poll. 
In the case of a poll, the trustee will follow 
the directions of the participants.

No voting rights will be exercised in respect 
of any own shares.

direCtors’ interests in shares

The beneficial interests of each of the directors and their immediate families in the ordinary share capital of the company are shown below: 

Rooney Anand
John Brady
Tim Bridge
Mike Coupe
Ian Durant
Matthew Fearn
Norman Murray

1 May 2011
(or date of appointment if later)
176,106
10,000
1,340,991
—
22,320
1,449
36,700

29 April 2012
199,753
10,000
1,340,991
2,000
22,320
6,162
36,700

At 29 April 2012, Tim Bridge had a non-beneficial interest in 88,700 (2011: 89,768) shares, in addition to the holding shown above. 

There have been no changes in the interests of the directors between 29 April 2012 and the date of this report.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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49

Transfer of shares
There are no restrictions on the transfer 
of shares in the company other than those 
which may from time to time be applicable 
under existing laws and regulations (for 
example under the Market Abuse Directive). 

In addition, pursuant to the Listing Rules 
of the Financial Services Authority, directors 
of the company and persons discharging 
managerial responsibility are required to 
obtain prior approval from the company 
to deal in the company’s securities, and are 
prohibited from dealing during closed periods.

Change of control
All of the company’s share incentive plans 
contain provisions relating to a change of 
control and full details of these plans are 
provided in the directors’ remuneration 
report. Outstanding options and awards 
would normally vest and become exercisable 
on a change of control, subject to the 
satisfaction of performance conditions, 
if applicable, at that time.

The group’s banking facility agreements contain 
provisions entitling the counterparties to 
exercise termination or other rights in the event 
of a change of control. Certain of the company’s 
trading contracts also contain similar provisions.

There are two employees who, on a change 
of control of the company resulting in the 
termination of their employment, would be 
entitled to compensation for loss of office. 
However, in the context of the company as 
a whole, these agreements are de minimis.

Articles of association
The company’s articles of association may 
only be amended by special resolution at 
general meetings of shareholders. 

Appointment and replacement 
of directors
The number of directors on the board shall 
be no less than five nor more than twelve. 
Directors may be appointed by the company 
by ordinary resolution or by the board of 
directors. A director appointed by the board 
of directors holds office until the next 
following AGM, and is then eligible for 
election by the shareholders.

The articles provide that at each AGM 
all those directors who were elected, or 
last re-elected, at the AGM held in the third 
calendar year before the current year shall retire 
from office and may stand for re-election. 

The company may by ordinary resolution, 
of which special notice has been given, 
remove any director from office.

Any director automatically ceases to be 
a director if (i) they give the company a written 
notice of resignation, (ii) they give the company 
a written offer to resign and the directors decide 
to accept this offer, (iii) all of the other directors 
remove them from office by notice in writing 
served upon them, (iv) they are or have been 
suffering from mental ill health and have a court 
order for their detention or the appointment 

of a guardian made in respect of them, (v) 
a bankruptcy order is made against them or 
they make any arrangement or composition 
with their creditors generally, (vi) they are 
prohibited from being a director by law or (vii) 
they are absent from board meetings for six 
months without leave and the other directors 
resolve that their office should be vacated.

Powers of the directors
The business of the company is managed 
by the directors who may exercise all the 
powers of the company, subject to its articles 
of association, any relevant legislation and any 
directions given by the company by passing 
a special resolution at a general meeting. 
In particular, the directors may exercise all 
the powers of the company to borrow money, 
issue shares, appoint and remove directors 
and recommend and declare dividends.

Communications with shareholders
Shareholders who are interested in signing 
up to e-communications should refer to the 
shareholders information page for further 
information on how to register via  
www.greeneking-shares.com.

Charitable donations
Donations by the company for charitable 
purposes made during the period amounted 
to £29,021 (2011: £25,777). The group makes 
no political donations.

Payments to suppliers 
The group understands the benefits to be 
derived from maintaining good relationships 
with its suppliers and where possible enters into 
agreements over payment terms. Where such 
terms have not been agreed it is the group policy 
to settle invoices 60 days following the end of 
month of invoicing. This policy is dependent 
on suppliers providing accurate, timely and 
sufficiently detailed invoices. Payment in 
respect of 62 days’ average purchases from 
trade creditors of the group was outstanding 
at the end of the period (2011: 70 days).

Directors’ and officers’ 
indemnity insurance
The group has taken out insurance to indemnify, 
against third party proceedings, the directors of 
the company whilst serving on the board of the 
company and of any subsidiary. This cover 
indemnifies all employees of the group who 
serve on the boards of all subsidiaries. These 
indemnity policies subsisted throughout the year 
and remain in place at the date of this report.

Financial instruments
The group’s policy on the use of financial 
instruments is set out in note 24.

Post balance sheet events
Details of events occurring after the year end 
are set out in note 32.

are listed on page 34. Having made enquiries 
of fellow directors and of the company’s 
auditor, each of these directors confirms that:

•	 to the best of each director’s knowledge 

and belief, there is no information relevant 
to the preparation of their report of which 
the company’s auditor are unaware; and

•	 each director has taken all the steps a director 
might reasonably be expected to have taken 
to be aware of relevant audit information and 
to establish that the company’s auditor are 
aware of that information.

Going concern
The group’s business activities, together with the 
factors likely to affect its future development, 
performance and position, are set out in the 
chief executive’s review. The financial position 
of the group, its cash flows, liquidity position and 
borrowing facilities are described in the financial 
review. In addition, note 24 to the financial 
statements includes the group’s objectives, 
policies and processes for managing its capital; its 
financial risk management objectives; details of 
its financial instruments and hedging activities; 
and its exposure to credit and liquidity risk. 

The directors are of the opinion that the 
group’s forecast and projections, taking account 
of reasonably possible changes in trading 
performance, show that the group should be able 
to operate within its current borrowing facilities 
and comply with its financing covenants. 

After making enquiries, the directors have 
a reasonable expectation that the company 
and the group have adequate resources to 
continue in operational existence for the 
foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue 
to adopt the going concern basis in preparing 
the annual report and financial statements.

Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP has expressed its willingness 
to continue in office and a resolution to 
re-appoint the firm as the company’s 
auditor will be proposed at the AGM.

Annual general meeting 
The AGM will be held at twelve noon 
on Tuesday 4 September 2012 at the 
Millennium Grandstand, Rowley Mile 
Racecourse Conference Centre, Newmarket, 
Suffolk. The notice of the AGM is set out 
in the separate circular to shareholders. 

The directors consider that all of the resolutions 
set out in the notice of AGM are in the best 
interests of the company and its shareholders 
as a whole. The directors will be voting in favour 
of them and unanimously recommend that 
shareholders vote in favour of each of them.

By order of the board

Directors’ statement as to disclosure 
of information to auditor’s
The directors who were members of the board 
at the time of approving the directors’ report 

Lindsay Keswick
Company secretary
27 June 2012

Corporate governance

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50

Corporate governance

direCtors’ responsiBilities statements

Directors’ responsibility statement
The directors confirm, to the best 
of their knowledge:

•	 that these financial statements prepared 
in accordance with IFRS, as adopted by 
the European Union, give a true and fair 
view of the assets, liabilities, financial 
position and profit of the company 
and undertakings included in the 
consolidation taken as a whole; and

•	 that the directors’ report and the business 

review includes a fair review of the 
development and performance of the 
business and the position of the company 
and undertakings included in the 
consolidation taken as a whole, together 
with a description of the principal risks 
and uncertainties that they face.

The directors of Greene King plc are listed 
on page 34.

T J W Bridge 
Director   
27 June 2012

R Anand
Director

Statement of directors’ 
responsibilities in respect 
of the parent company 
financial statements
The directors are responsible for preparing 
the directors’ report and the financial 
statements in accordance with applicable 
law and regulations. Company law requires 
the directors to prepare financial statements 
for each financial year. Under that law 
the directors have elected to prepare the 
financial statements in accordance with 
United Kingdom Generally Accepted 
Accounting Practice (United Kingdom 
Accounting Standards and applicable law). 
Under company law the directors must not 
approve the financial statements unless they 
are satisfied that they give a true and fair 
view of the state of affairs of the company 
and of the profit or loss of the company for 
that period. In preparing those financial 
statements, the directors are required to:

•	 select suitable accounting policies and 

then apply them consistently;

•	 make judgments and estimates that are 

reasonable and prudent; 

•	 state whether applicable UK Accounting 
Standards have been followed, subject 
to any material departures disclosed and 
explained in the financial statements; and

•	 prepare the financial statements 
on the going concern basis unless 
it is appropriate to presume that the 
company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping 
adequate accounting records that are 
sufficient to show and explain the company’s 
transactions and disclose with reasonable 
accuracy at any time the financial position of 
the company and enable them to ensure that 
the company financial statements comply 
with the Companies Act 2006. They are also 
responsible for safeguarding the assets of the 
company and hence for taking reasonable 
steps for the prevention and detection of 
fraud and other irregularities.

Statement of directors’ 
responsibilities in respect of 
the group financial statements
The directors are responsible for preparing 
the annual report and the group financial 
statements in accordance with applicable 
United Kingdom law and those International 
Financial Reporting Standards as adopted 
by the European Union.

Under company law the directors must 
not approve the group financial statements 
unless they are satisfied that they present 
fairly the financial position, financial 
performance and cash flows of the group 
for that period. In preparing those group 
financial statements the directors are 
required to:

•	 select suitable accounting policies in 
accordance with IAS 8: Accounting 
Policies, Changes in Accounting 
Estimates and Errors and then apply 
them consistently;

•	 present information, including accounting 

policies, in a manner that provides 
relevant, reliable, comparable and 
understandable information;

•	 provide additional disclosures 

when compliance with the specific 
requirements in IFRSs is insufficient to 
enable users to understand the impact 
of particular transactions, other events 
and conditions on the group’s financial 
position and financial performance; 

•	 state that the group has complied 

with IFRSs, subject to any material 
departures disclosed and explained 
in the financial statements; and

•	 make judgments and estimates that are 

reasonable and prudent.

The directors are responsible for keeping 
adequate accounting records that are 
sufficient to show and explain the group’s 
transactions and disclose with reasonable 
accuracy at any time the financial position of 
the group and enable them to ensure that the 
group financial statements comply with the 
Companies Act 2006 and Article 4 of the 
IAS Regulation. They are also responsible 
for safeguarding the assets of the group and 
hence for taking reasonable steps for the 
prevention and detection of fraud and 
other irregularities.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

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51

Financial statements

group accounts

52 Independent auditor’s report (group)
53 Group income statement
54 Group statement of comprehensive income 
55 Group balance sheet
56 Group cash flow statement 
57 Group statement of changes in equity
58 Notes to the group accounts 

Financial statements

52

Financial statements

Independent audItor’s report
to tHe MeMBers oF greene KIng pLc

We have audited the group financial statements of Greene King plc for the 52 weeks ended 29 April 2012 which comprise the group income 
statement, group statement of comprehensive income, group balance sheet, group cash flow statement, group statement of changes in equity 
and the related notes 1 to 33. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and International 
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union.

This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. 
Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them 
in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone 
other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditor
As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 50, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the 
group financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on 
the group financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards 
require us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements
An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance 
that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether 
the accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the 
reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the directors; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. In addition, 
we read all the financial and non-financial information in the annual report to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial 
statements. If we become aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

Opinion on financial statements
In our opinion the group financial statements:
•	 give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s affairs as at 29 April 2012 and of its profit for the 52 weeks then ended;
•	 have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union; and 
•	 have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion:
•	 the information given in the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the 

financial statements; and

•	 the information given in the corporate governance statement set out on pages 36 to 40 with respect to internal control and risk management 

systems in relation to financial reporting processes and about share capital structures is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following:
Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:
•	 certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
•	 we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
•	 a corporate governance statement has not been prepared by the company.

Under the Listing Rules we are required to review:
•	 the directors’ statement, set out on page 49, in relation to going concern; and
•	 the part of the corporate governance statement relating to the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the UK Corporate 

Governance Code specified for our review; and

•	 certain elements of the report to shareholders by the board on directors’ remuneration.

Other matter
We have reported separately on the parent company financial statements of Greene King plc for the 52 weeks ended 29 April 2012 and on the 
information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described as having been audited.

Bob Forsyth (Senior statutory auditor)
for and on behalf of Ernst & Young LLP, Statutory Auditor
Cambridge
27 June 2012

Notes:
1. 

 The maintenance and integrity of the Greene King plc website is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by the auditor does not involve consideration 
of these matters and, accordingly, the auditor accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially 
presented on the website.

2. 

 Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

53

group IncoMe stateMent
For tHe 52 weeKs ended 29 aprIL 2012

Revenue
Operating costs

Profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment

Operating profit 
Finance income

Finance costs

Other net finance income/(expense)

Profit before tax
Tax

Profit attributable to equity holders of parent

Note

2,3

4

5

2,4

7

7

7

10

Earnings per share
– basic

– adjusted basic

– diluted

– adjusted diluted

Dividends per share (paid and proposed in respect of the period)

2012

2011

Before
exceptional
items 
£m

Exceptional
items
£m

Before
exceptional
items
£m

Exceptional
items
£m

Total
£m

Total
£m

1,140.4 

(904.2)

— 

1,140.4 

(25.1)

(929.3)

1,042.7 

(820.7)

— 

1,042.7 

(26.8)

(847.5)

— 

0.2 

236.2 

(24.9)

1.0 

(87.1)

1.9 

152.0

(38.0)

114.0

— 

(2.0) 

— 

(26.9)

15.3 

(11.6)

0.2 

211.3 

1.0 

(89.1)

1.9 

125.1

(22.7)

102.4

— 

222.0 

3.5 

(84.9)

(0.6)

140.0

(36.4)

103.6

3.6 

(23.2)

— 

— 

— 

(23.2)

26.4 

3.2

2012

2011

Before
exceptional
items

Note

12

12

12

12

11

53.0p

52.9p

24.8p

Total

47.6p

47.5p

Before
exceptional
items

48.2p

48.1p

23.1p

3.6 

198.8 

3.5 

(84.9)

(0.6)

116.8

(10.0)

106.8

Total

49.7p

49.6p

Financial statements

 
54

Financial statements

group stateMent oF coMpreHensIve IncoMe
For tHe 52 weeKs ended 29 aprIL 2012

Profit for the period

Other comprehensive income
Cash flow hedges: 

Losses taken to equity

Tax on cash flow hedges

Actuarial (losses)/gains on defined benefit pension schemes

Tax on actuarial losses/(gains)

Other comprehensive (expense)/income for the period, net of tax

Total comprehensive income for the period, net of tax

Note

2012
£m

2011
£m

 102.4 

 106.8

24

10

9

10

 (84.5)

 18.1 

 (66.4)

 (33.1)

 6.9 

 (26.2)

 (92.6)

 9.8 

 (7.5)

 (0.1)

 (7.6)

 19.2 

 (6.7)

 12.5 

 4.9 

 111.7 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

 
group BaLance sHeet
as at 29 aprIL 2012

Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment

Goodwill

Financial assets

Deferred tax assets

Prepayments

Trade and other receivables

Current assets
Inventories

Financial assets

Trade and other receivables

Prepayments

Cash and cash equivalents

Property, plant and equipment held for sale

Current liabilities
Borrowings

Derivative financial instruments

Trade and other payables

Income tax payable

Provisions

Non-current liabilities
Borrowings

Derivative financial instruments

Deferred tax liabilities

Post-employment liabilities

Provisions

Total net assets

Issued capital and reserves
Share capital

Share premium

Capital redemption reserve

Hedging reserve

Own shares

Retained earnings

Total equity

Net debt

Signed on behalf of the board on 27 June 2012.

T J W Bridge 
Director 

R Anand
Director

www.greeneking.co.uk

55

As at
29 April 
2012
£m

As at
1 May
2011
£m

Note

14

13

15

10

19

18

15

19

20

21

23

24

22

25

23

24

10

9

25

26

2,191.3 

2,094.9 

729.3 

32.8 

70.6 

7.3

0.1 

705.8 

35.8 

48.7 

7.2

0.1 

3,031.4

2,892.5

29.4 

6.2 

68.6 

9.4

36.8 

150.4

6.2

156.6

24.7 

4.6 

69.6 

11.5

59.6 

170.0

3.7

173.7

(30.7)

(9.7)

(41.2)

(4.9)

(230.2)

(228.0)

(53.2)

(1.2)

(49.6)

(0.7)

(325.0)

(324.4)

(1,499.3)

(1,428.6)

(191.1)

(150.7)

(68.8)

(7.8)

(111.4)

(163.1)

(51.4)

(6.4)

(1,917.7)

(1,760.9)

945.3 

980.9 

27.2 

251.3 

3.3 

(150.4)

(9.6)

823.5 

945.3 

27.1 

249.8 

3.3 

(84.0)

(9.0)

793.7 

980.9 

29

1,493.2 

1,410.2 

Financial statements

56

Financial statements

group casH FLow stateMent
For tHe 52 weeKs ended 29 aprIL 2012

Operating activities
Operating profit

Operating exceptional items

Depreciation

EBITDA*
Working capital and non-cash movements

Interest received

Interest paid

Tax paid

Net cashflow from operating activities

Investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment

Purchase of other investments

Business combinations (net of cash acquired)

Advances of trade loans

Repayment of trade loans

Sales of property, plant and equipment

Net cashflow from investing activities

Financing activities
Equity dividends paid

Issue of shares

Purchase of own shares

Financing costs

Repayment of acquired debt

Repayment of borrowings

Advance of borrowings

Net cashflow from financing activities

Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents

Opening cash and cash equivalents

Closing cash and cash equivalents

*  EBITDA represents earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and exceptional items.

Note

2012
£m

2011
£m

2

28

 211.3 

24.9 

55.8 

 292.0 

 (10.0)

 1.0 

 (86.4)

 (31.1)

 165.5 

 (126.8)

 — 

17

 (70.8)

 (4.4)

 6.6 

 29.9 

 198.8 

23.2 

54.6 

 276.6 

 2.5 

 3.5 

 (87.4)

 (32.5)

 162.7 

 (96.2)

 (0.1)

 (60.5)

 (7.4)

 8.9 

 27.8 

 (165.5)

 (127.5)

11

 (50.6)

 1.6 

 (0.6)

 (4.1)

 (27.3)

 (30.2)

 96.6 

 (14.6)

 (14.6)

 46.4 

 31.8 

17

29

29

20

20

 (47.1)

 2.3 

 (2.6)

 (0.3)

 (47.7)

 (31.3)

 110.0 

 (16.7)

 18.5 

 27.9 

 46.4 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

group stateMent oF cHanges In equIty
For tHe 52 weeKs ended 29 aprIL 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

57

At 2 May 2010

Profit for the period

Other comprehensive income:

Actuarial gains on defined benefit pension 
schemes (net of tax)

Net loss on cashflow hedges (net of tax)

Total comprehensive income

Issue of ordinary share capital

Release of shares

Repurchase of shares

Share-based payments

Tax on share-based payments

Equity dividends paid

At 1 May 2011

Profit for the period

Other comprehensive income:

Actuarial losses on defined benefit pension 
schemes (net of tax)

Net loss on cashflow hedges (net of tax)

Total comprehensive income

Issue of ordinary share capital

Repurchase of shares

Share-based payments

Tax on share-based payments

Equity dividends paid

At 29 April 2012

Note

Share
capital
(note 26)
£m

27.1 

— 

Share
premium
(note 27)
£m

Capital
redemption
(note 27)
£m

247.6 

— 

3.3 

— 

Hedging
reserve
(note 27)
£m

(76.4)

— 

Own
shares
(note 27)
£m

(6.6)

— 

Retained
earnings
(note 27)
£m

717.9 

106.8 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

2.2 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

(7.6)

(7.6)

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

27.1 

—

249.8 

— 

3.3 

— 

(84.0)

— 

— 

— 

— 

0.1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

1.5 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

(66.4)

(66.4)

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

0.2 

(2.6)

— 

— 

— 

(9.0)

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

(0.6)

— 

— 

— 

26

8

10

11

26

8

10

11

12.5 

— 

119.3 

— 

(0.1)

— 

3.0 

0.7 

(47.1)

793.7 

102.4 

(26.2)

— 

76.2 

— 

— 

3.9 

0.3 

Total
£m

912.9 

106.8 

12.5 

(7.6)

111.7 

2.2 

0.1 

(2.6)

3.0 

0.7 

(47.1)

980.9 

102.4 

(26.2)

(66.4)

9.8 

1.6 

(0.6)

3.9 

0.3 

(50.6)

(50.6)

27.2 

251.3 

3.3 

(150.4)

(9.6)

823.5 

945.3 

Financial statements

58

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts
For tHe 52 weeKs ended 29 aprIL 2012

1 Accounting policies
Corporate information
The consolidated financial statements of Greene King plc for the 52 weeks ended 29 April 2012 were authorised for issue by the board of 
directors on 27 June 2012. Greene King plc is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales. The company’s 
shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Statement of compliance
The group’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the 
EU as they apply to the financial statements of the group for the 52 weeks ended 29 April 2012 (prior year 52 weeks ended 1 May 2011) and in 
accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis of preparation
The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with those parts of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to 
companies reporting under IFRS. They are presented in pounds sterling, with values rounded to the nearest hundred thousand, except 
where otherwise indicated.

Basis of consolidation
The consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of Greene King plc, its subsidiaries and its related party, Greene 
King Finance plc. Greene King Finance plc is a special purpose entity set up to raise bond finance for the group, which is consolidated as a 
quasi-subsidiary.

The financial statements of subsidiaries are prepared for the same reporting year as the parent company with adjustments made to their 
financial statements to bring their accounting policies in line with those used by the group.

The results of subsidiaries are consolidated from the date of acquisition, being the date on which the group obtains control, and continue 
to be consolidated until the date that such control ceases. Intercompany transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated 
on consolidation.

Changes in accounting policies
The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the previous financial year. 

The following standards, interpretations and amendments are effective for this financial year but have not had a significant impact on the 
reported financial performance or position of the group.

IAS 24 Related Party Disclosures (Revised)
The revised standard, effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011, clarifies the definition of a related party 
to simplify the identification of related party relationships, particularly in relation to significant influence and joint control.

IFRIC 14 Prepayments of a Minimum Funding Requirement (Amendment)
The amendment provides guidance on assessing the recoverable amounts of a net pension asset. It permits the treatment of the prepayment 
of a minimum funding requirement as an asset.

IFRIC 19 Extinguishing Financial Liabilities with Equity Instruments
The interpretation clarifies that equity instruments issued to a creditor to extinguish a financial liability qualify as consideration paid. 
The equity instruments issued are measured at their fair value, unless this cannot be measured reliably, in which case they are measured 
at the fair value of the liability extinguished. Any gain or loss is recognised immediately in the income statement.

Improvements to International Financial Reporting Standards (issued May 2010)
In May 2010, the IASB issued its third omnibus of amendments to its standards, primarily with a view to removing inconsistencies and 
clarifying wording. There are separate transitional provisions for each standard. The adoption of the following amendments resulted 
in no changes to accounting policies but no impact on the financial position or performance of the group:

• IFRS 7 Financial Instruments – Disclosures
The amendment emphasises the interaction between quantitative and qualitative disclosures and the nature and extent of risks associated 
with financial instruments. Financial instruments have been disclosed in note 24. 

• IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements
The amendment clarifies that an entity may present an analysis of each component of other comprehensive income maybe in the statement 
of changes in equity or in the notes to the financial statements. The group provides this analysis in the statement of changes in equity.

Significant accounting policies
Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment is stated at cost or deemed cost on transition to IFRS, less accumulated depreciation and any impairment 
in value.

Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset.

Freehold land is not depreciated. Freehold and long leasehold buildings are depreciated to their estimated residual values over periods up to 50 
years, and short leasehold improvements are depreciated to their estimated residual values over the shorter of the remaining term of the lease 
or useful life of the asset. Residual value is reviewed at least at each financial year end and there is no depreciable amount if residual value is 
the same as, or exceeds, book value. Plant and equipment assets are depreciated over their estimated lives which range from three to 20 years.

Residual values, useful lives and methods of depreciation are reviewed for all categories of property, plant and equipment and adjusted, 
if appropriate, at each financial year end.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

59

1 Accounting policies continued
Significant accounting policies continued
Property, plant and equipment continued
An item of property, plant and equipment is de-recognised upon disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected from its use. 
Profit or loss on de-recognition is calculated as the difference between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset, 
and is included in the income statement in the year of de-recognition.

Business combinations and goodwill 
Business combinations are accounted for using the acquisition method. The cost of an acquisition is measured as the aggregate of 
the consideration transferred, measured at acquisition date fair value and the amount of any non-controlling interest in the acquiree. 
The choice of measurement of non-controlling interest, either at fair value or at the proportionate share of the acquiree’s identifiable 
net assets is determined on a transaction by transaction basis. Acquisition costs incurred are taken to the income statement.

When the group acquires a business, it assesses the financial assets and liabilities assumed for appropriate classification and designation 
in accordance with the contractual terms, economic circumstances and pertinent conditions as at the acquisition date. This includes the 
separation of embedded derivatives in host contracts of the acquiree.

Any contingent consideration to be transferred to the acquirer will be recognised at fair value at the acquisition date. Subsequent changes 
to the fair value of the contingent consideration which are deemed to be an asset or a liability will be recognised in accordance with IAS 39 
either in the income statement or in other comprehensive income. If the contingent consideration is classified as equity, it should not be 
remeasured until it is finally settled within equity.

Goodwill is initially measured at cost being the excess of the aggregate of the acquisition-date fair value of the consideration transferred and 
the amount recognised for the non-controlling interest over the net identifiable amounts of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in 
exchange for the business combination. Assets acquired and liabilities assumed in transactions separate to the business combinations, such 
as the settlement of pre-existing relationships or post-acquisition remuneration arrangements are accounted for separately from the business 
combination in accordance with their nature and applicable IFRSs. Identifiable intangible assets, meeting either the contractual-legal or 
separability criterion are recognised separately from goodwill. Contingent liabilities representing a present obligation are recognised if the 
acquisition-date fair value can be measured reliably. 

If the aggregate of the acquisition-date fair value of the consideration transferred and the amount recognised for the non-controlling interest 
is lower than the fair value of the assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities and the fair value of any pre-existing interest held in the business 
acquired, the difference is recognised in the income statement.

After initial recognition, goodwill is measured at cost less any accumulated impairment losses. 

Impairment
Property, plant and equipment
Individual assets are grouped for impairment assessment purposes at the lowest level at which there are identifiable cash inflows 
independent of the cash inflows of other groups of assets.

An assessment is made at each reporting date as to whether there is an indication of impairment. If an indication exists, the group makes an 
estimate of the recoverable amount of each asset group. An asset’s or cash generating unit’s recoverable amount is the higher of its fair value 
less costs to sell and value-in-use and is determined for an individual asset, unless the asset does not generate cash inflows that are largely 
independent of those from other assets or groups of assets.

An impairment loss is recognised where the recoverable amount is lower than the carrying value of assets. If there is an indication that any 
previously recognised impairment losses may no longer exist or may have decreased, a reversal of the loss may be made only if there has been 
a change in the estimates used to determine the recoverable amounts since the last impairment loss was recognised. The carrying amount 
of the asset is increased to its recoverable amount only up to the carrying amount that would have resulted, net of depreciation, had no 
impairment loss been recognised for the asset in prior years. 

Impairment losses and any subsequent reversals are recognised in the income statement.

Details of the impairment losses recognised in respect of property, plant and equipment are provided in note 14.

Goodwill
Goodwill is reviewed for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value 
may be impaired.

Impairment is determined by the recoverable amount of an operating segment. Where this is less than the carrying value of the operating 
segment an impairment loss is recognised immediately in the income statement. This loss cannot be reversed in future periods.

For the purpose of impairment testing, goodwill acquired in a business combination is, from the acquisition date, allocated to each of the 
group’s cash generating units (or groups of cash generating units) that are expected to benefit from the combination, irrespective of whether 
other assets or liabilities of the acquiree are assigned to those units. Each unit or group of units to which goodwill is allocated represents the 
lowest level within the group at which goodwill is monitored for internal management purposes and cannot be larger than an operating 
segment before aggregation.

Where goodwill forms part of a cash generating unit and part of the operation within that unit is disposed of, any goodwill associated with 
the operation disposed of is included in the carrying amount of the operation when determining the gain or loss on disposal of the operation. 
Goodwill disposed of in this circumstance is measured based on the relative values of the operation disposed of and the portion of the cash 
generating unit retained.

Goodwill amortised prior to the conversion to IFRS on 3 May 2004 has not been reinstated and the net book value of goodwill at that date has 
been carried forward as the carrying value. Prior to May 1998, goodwill was written off to reserves. Such goodwill has not been reinstated and 
is not included in determining profit or loss on disposal.

Financial statements

60

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

1 Accounting policies continued
Significant accounting policies continued
Financial instruments
Financial instruments are recognised when the group becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument and are de-recognised 
when the group no longer controls the contractual rights that comprise the financial instrument, normally through sale or when all cash flows 
attributable to the instrument are passed to an independent third party.

Financial assets
Financial assets are classified as either financial assets at fair value through the income statement, loans and receivables, held-to-maturity 
investments or available-for-sale financial assets. The group determines the classification of its financial assets at initial recognition and, 
where appropriate, re-evaluates this designation at each financial year end.

The group makes trade loans to publicans who purchase the group’s beer. Trade loans are non-derivative and are not quoted in an active 
market and have therefore been designated as ‘Loans and receivables’, carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Gains 
and losses are recognised in income when the loans and receivables are de-recognised or impaired, as well as through the amortisation process.

The group assesses at each balance sheet date whether any individual trade loan is impaired. If there is evidence that an impairment loss 
has been incurred, the amount of loss is measured as the difference between the loan’s carrying amount and the expected future receipts, 
(excluding future credit losses that have not been incurred), discounted at the loan’s original effective interest rate. The loss is recognised 
in operating profit.

Trade receivables
Trade receivables are recorded at their original invoiced amount less an allowance for any doubtful amounts when collection of the full 
amount is no longer considered probable.

Inventories
Inventories are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Raw materials are valued at average cost. Finished goods and work 
in progress comprise materials, labour and attributable production overheads where applicable, and are valued at average cost.

Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents in the balance sheet comprise cash at bank and in hand and short-term deposits with an original maturity of three 
months or less. For the consolidated cash flow statement, cash and cash equivalents consist of cash and cash equivalents as defined above, net 
of outstanding bank overdrafts.

Property, plant and equipment held for sale
Property, plant and equipment is classified as held for sale only if it is available for sale in its current condition, management are committed 
to the sale and a sale is highly probable and expected to be completed within one year from the date of classification. Property, plant and 
equipment classified as held for sale is measured at the lower of carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell and is no longer depreciated 
or amortised.

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
All loans and borrowings are initially recognised at fair value of the consideration received, net of issue costs. After initial recognition, 
interest-bearing loans and borrowings are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Finance costs and income
Finance costs are expensed to the income statement using the effective interest method. Finance income is recognised in the income 
statement using the effective interest method.

Derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting
The group uses interest rate swaps to hedge its exposure to interest rate fluctuations on its variable rate loans, notes and bonds.

Interest rate swaps are initially measured at fair value, if any, and carried on the balance sheet as an asset or liability. Subsequent 
measurement is at fair value determined by reference to market values for similar instruments. If a derivative does not qualify for hedge 
accounting the gain or loss arising on the movement in fair value is recognised in the income statement.

Hedge accounting
To qualify for hedge accounting the hedge relationship must be designated and documented at inception. Documentation must include the 
group’s risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge and formal allocation to the item or transaction being hedged. 
The group also documents how it will assess the effectiveness of the hedge and carries out assessments on a regular basis to determine 
whether it has been, and is likely to continue to be, highly effective.

Hedges can be classified as either fair value (hedging exposure to changes in fair value of an asset or liability), or cash flow (hedging the 
variability in cash flows attributable to an asset, liability, or forecast transaction). The group uses its interest rate swaps as cash flow hedges.

Cash flow hedge accounting
The effective portion of the gain or loss on an interest rate swap is recognised directly in equity, whilst any ineffective portion is recognised 
immediately in the income statement.

Amounts taken to equity are transferred to the income statement in the same period that the financial income or expense is recognised, 
unless the hedged transaction results in the recognition of a non-financial asset or liability whereby the amounts are transferred to the 
initial carrying amount of the asset or liability.

When a hedging instrument expires or is sold, terminated or exercised, or no longer qualifies for hedge accounting, amounts previously 
recognised in equity are held there until the previously hedged transaction affects profit or loss. If the hedged transaction is no longer 
expected to occur, the cumulative gain or loss recognised in equity is immediately transferred to the income statement. 

Trade payables
Trade payables are non-interest bearing and are stated at their nominal value.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

61

1 Accounting policies continued
Significant accounting policies continued
Provisions
Provisions are recognised when the group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, when it is probable that 
an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation, and when a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation.

Provisions are discounted to present value, where the effect of the time value of money is material, using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects 
current market estimates of the time value of money and the risks specific to the liability. The amortisation of the discount is recognised as 
a finance cost.

Pensions and other post-employment benefits
Defined benefit pension schemes
The group operates a number of defined benefit pension schemes which require contributions to be made into separately administered funds. 
The cost of providing benefits under the schemes is determined separately for each plan using the projected unit credit actuarial method on 
an annual basis. 

The current service cost is charged to operating profit. Any actuarial gains and losses are recognised in full in the group statement 
of comprehensive income in the period in which they occur.

Past service costs are recognised in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the vesting period or immediately if the benefits have vested.

When a settlement or curtailment occurs the obligation and related scheme assets are re-measured and the resulting gain or loss is recognised 
in the income statement in the same period.

The interest cost on scheme liabilities and the expected return on scheme assets are shown as a net amount in the group income statement.

The defined benefit asset or liability recognised on the balance sheet comprises the present value of the schemes’ obligations less the fair 
value of scheme assets. Defined benefit assets are restricted to the extent that they are considered recoverable.

Defined contribution pension schemes
The cost of the group’s defined contribution pension schemes amounts to the value of contributions made. Contributions are charged to the 
income statement as they become payable.

Post-employment healthcare benefit
The group also provided certain additional post-employment healthcare benefits to employees which are unfunded. The cost of providing 
these benefits is determined on an estimated accruals basis.

Share-based payments
Certain employees and directors receive equity-settled remuneration, whereby they render services in exchange for shares or rights over 
shares. The fair value of the shares and options granted are measured using a Black-Scholes model, at the date at which they were granted. 
No account is taken in the fair value calculation of any vesting conditions (service and performance), other than market conditions 
(performance linked to the price of the shares of the company). Any other conditions that are required to be met in order for an employee 
to become fully entitled to an award are considered non-vesting conditions. Like market performance conditions, non-vesting conditions are 
taken into account in determining the grant date fair value. The fair value of shares and options granted is recognised as an employee expense 
with a corresponding increase in equity spread over the period in which the vesting conditions are fulfilled ending on the relevant vesting 
date. The cumulative amount recognised as an expense reflects the extent to which the vesting period has expired, adjusted for the estimated 
number of shares and options that are ultimately expected to vest. The periodic charge or credit is the movement in the cumulative position 
from beginning to end of that period.

No expense is recognised for awards that do not ultimately vest provided vesting is not conditional on market or non-vesting conditions. 
The dilutive effect of outstanding options is reflected as additional share dilution in calculating earnings per share figures.

In accordance with the exemption allowed under IFRS 1 for first time adopters, no expense is recorded in respect of grants made under the 
above schemes prior to 7 November 2002 which had not vested by the date of transition to IFRS. However later modifications of such equity 
instruments are measured using IFRS 2.

Own shares
Own shares consist of treasury shares and shares held within an employee benefit trust. The group has an employee benefit trust for the 
granting of shares to applicable employees. 

Own shares are recognised at cost as a deduction from shareholders’ equity. Subsequent consideration received for the sale of such shares 
is also recognised in equity, with any difference between the sale proceeds from the original cost being taken to revenue reserves. No gain 
or loss is recognised in the performance statements on transactions in treasury shares.

Revenue
Generally, revenue represents external sales (excluding taxes) of goods and services, net of discounts. Revenue is recognised to the extent 
that it is probable that the economic benefits will flow to the group and is measured at the fair value of consideration receivable, excluding 
discounts, rebates, and other sales taxes or duty relating to brewing and packaging of certain products. Revenue principally consists of drink, 
food and accommodation sales, which are recognised at the point at which goods or services are provided, rental income, which is recognised 
on a straight-line basis over the lease term and machine income, where net takings are recognised as earned.

Operating leases
Leases where the lessor retains substantially all the risks and benefits of ownership are classified as operating leases. Lease payments are 
recognised as an expense in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.

Lease premiums paid on entering into or acquiring operating leases represent prepaid lease payments and are held on the balance sheet as current 
(the portion relating to the next financial period) or non-current prepayments. These are amortised on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Financial statements

62

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

1 Accounting policies continued
Significant accounting policies continued
Taxes
Income tax
The income tax charge comprises both the income tax payable based on profits for the year and the deferred income tax. It is calculated using 
taxation rates enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date and is measured at the amount expected to be recovered from or 
paid to the taxation authorities.

Income tax relating to items recognised directly in equity is recognised in equity and not in the income statement.

Deferred tax
Deferred tax is provided for using the liability method on temporary differences at the balance sheet date between the tax bases of assets 
and liabilities and their carrying values in the financial statements.

Deferred tax is recognised for all temporary differences except where the deferred tax arises from the initial recognition of goodwill or of an 
asset or liability in a transaction that is not a business combination that, at the time of the transaction, affects neither the accounting profit nor 
taxable profit or loss or, in respect of taxable temporary differences associated with investments in subsidiaries, where the timing of the reversal 
of the temporary differences can be controlled and it is probable that the temporary differences will not reverse in the foreseeable future.

Deferred tax assets are recognised for all deductible temporary differences and carry forward of unused tax losses only to the extent that it is 
probable that taxable profit will be available against which the deductible temporary differences and the carry forward of unused tax losses 
can be utilised.

The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each balance sheet date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable 
that sufficient taxable profit will be available to allow all or part of the deferred tax asset to be utilised. Unrecognised deferred tax assets are 
reassessed at each balance sheet date and are recognised to the extent that it has become probable that future taxable profit will allow the 
deferred tax asset to be recovered.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured, on an undiscounted basis, at the tax rates that are expected to apply to the year when the 
asset is realised or the liability is settled, based on tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.

Deferred tax relating to items recognised directly in equity is recognised in equity and not in the income statement.

Exceptional items
Exceptional items are defined as items of income or expense which, because of their nature, size or expected frequency, merit separate 
presentation to allow a better understanding of the financial performance in the period.

New standards and interpretations not applied
As at 29 April 2012 there are a number of standards and interpretations issued by the IASB and IFRIC with an effective date after the date 
of these financial statements and which have not been early adopted by the group. These are expected to be applied as follows: 

Amendment to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements
The amended standard, effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 July 2012, requires that items included within other 
comprehensive income are grouped on the basis of whether they are potentially reclassifiable to the group income statement subsequently 
(reclassification adjustments). The amendments do not address which items are presented in other comprehensive income.

IAS 19 Employee Benefits (Revised)
The revisions eliminate the corridor approach and requires immediate recognition of all actuarial gains and losses in other comprehensive 
income, immediate recognition of all past service costs and the replacement of interest cost and expected return on plan assets with a net 
interest amount that is calculated by applying the discount rate to the net defined benefit liability/asset. The amendments are effective for 
accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013. 

IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures (Amendment) – Disclosures of transfer of financial assets
This amendment, effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 July 2011, requires additional quantitative and qualitative 
disclosures relating to transfers of financial assets.

IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures (Amendment) and IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation (Amendment)
The amendment to IAS 32, which is effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014, clarifies some of the requirements 
for offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities on the group balance sheet. The amendment to IFRS 7, effective for accounting periods 
beginning on or after 1 January 2013, will affect disclosure only and has no impact on the group’s financial position or performance.

IFRS 9 Financial Instruments: Classification and Measurement 
The standard is the first phase in the IASB’s work to replace IAS 39 and applies to the classification and measurement of financial instruments 
as defined in IAS 39. This standard, effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015, establishes two primary measurement 
categories for financial assets: i) amortised cost and ii) fair value. The basis of classification depends on the entity’s business model and the 
contractual cash flow characteristics of the financial asset. In relation to liabilities the change in the fair value of a liability that relate to credit 
risk must be presented in other comprehensive income. The remainder of the change in fair value is presented in profit or loss, unless such 
presentation would create or enlarge the accounting mismatch in profit or loss. In subsequent phases, the IASB will address, hedge accounting 
and derecognition. The group will quantify the effect in conjunction with the other phases, when issued, to present a comprehensive picture.

IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements
The new standard, which is effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013, builds on existing principles by identifying 
the concept of control as the determining factor in whether an entity should be included within the consolidated financial statements of the 
parent company. It also provides additional guidance to assist in the determination of control where this is difficult to assess.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

 
 
 
 
www.greeneking.co.uk

63

1 Accounting policies continued
New standards and interpretations not applied continued
IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements
The new standard, which is effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013, has reduced the types of joint arrangement 
to two: joint operations and joint ventures. When classifying the type of joint arrangement more focus is given to ensure that it reflects the 
obligations of the arrangements rather than its legal form.

IFRS 12 Disclosure of Interests in Other Entities
The new standard, which is effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013, sets out the required disclosures for entities 
reporting under IFRS 10 and IFRS 11. The standard includes disclosure requirements for all forms of interest in other legal entities, including 
joint arrangements, associates, special purpose vehicles and other off balance sheet vehicles.

IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement
The new standard, effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013, provides a precise definition of fair value and gives 
guidance on the measurement and enhanced disclosure of fair value where its use is required or permitted by other IFRSs.

IAS 27 Separate Financial Statements (Revised)
The amended standard is effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013 and includes provisions on separate financial 
statements that are left after the control provision of IAS 27 have been included in the new IFRS 10. 

IAS 28 Associates and Joint Ventures (Amendment)
Following the issue of IFRS 11 the amendment, effective for accounting period beginning on or after 1 January 2013, includes the requirement 
for joint ventures, as well as associates, to be equity accounted.

Significant accounting judgments and estimates
The preparation of financial statements requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions in the application of accounting 
policies that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expense. The group bases its estimates and judgments on historical 
experience and other factors deemed reasonable under the circumstances, including any expectations of future events. Actual results may 
differ from these estimates. The estimates and assumptions considered to be significant are detailed below: 

Taxation
Judgment is required when determining the provision for taxes as the tax treatment of some transactions cannot be finally determined until a formal 
resolution has been reached with the tax authorities. Tax benefits are not recognised unless it is probable that the benefit will be obtained. Tax provisions 
are made if it is possible that a liability will arise. The group reviews each significant tax liability or benefit to assess the appropriate accounting treatment.

Share-based payments
Judgment is required when calculating the fair value of awards made under the group’s share-based payment plans. Note 8 describes the key 
assumptions and valuation model inputs used in the determination of these values. In addition estimates are made of the number of awards 
that will ultimately vest, judgment is required in relation to the probability of meeting non-market based performance conditions and the 
continuing participation of employees in the plans.

Pension liabilities
The present values of pension liabilities are determined on an actuarial basis and depend on a number of actuarial assumptions which 
are disclosed in note 9. Any change in these assumptions will impact on the carrying amount of pension liabilities. Note 9 describes the key 
assumptions used in the accounting for retirement benefit obligations.

Impairment of goodwill
The group determines whether goodwill is impaired on at least an annual basis. Details of the tests and carrying value of the assets are shown in 
note 13. This requires an estimation of the value-in-use of the cash generating units to which the goodwill is allocated. Value-in-use calculations 
require assumptions to be made regarding the expected future cash flows from the cash generating unit and choice of a suitable discount rate in 
order to calculate the present value of those cash flows. If the actual cash flows are lower than estimated, future impairments may be necessary.

Impairment of property, plant and equipment
The group determines whether property, plant and equipment is impaired where there are indicators of impairment. This requires an estimation 
of the value-in-use at a site level. Value-in-use calculations require assumptions to be made regarding the expected future cash flows from the 
cash generating unit and choice of a suitable discount rate in order to calculate the present value of those cash flows.

Note 14 describes the assumptions used in the impairment testing of property, plant and equipment together with an analysis of the 
sensitivity to changes in key assumptions.

Residual values
Residual values of property are determined with reference to current market property trends. If residual values were lower than estimated, 
an impairment of asset value and reassessment of future depreciation charge may be required. Useful lives are reassessed annually which may 
lead to an increase or reduction in depreciation accordingly.

Business combinations
The group identifies separate assets and liabilities upon acquisition and recognises those assets at their fair value. The assessment of fair 
value, particularly for property, plant and equipment acquired, is undertaken with reference to current market conditions. 

Note 17 describes the business combinations in the current year and provides details of the fair value adjustments made in arriving at the 
fair value of assets and liabilities acquired. 

Property provisions
The group provides for its onerous obligations under operating leases where the property is closed or vacant and for properties where rental expense 
is in excess of income. The estimated timings and amounts of cash flows are determined using the experience of internal and external property experts. 
However, changes to the expected method of exiting from the obligation could lead to changes in the level of provision recorded. 

Financial statements

64

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

2 Segment information
The group has determined the following three reportable segments that are largely organised and managed separately according to the nature 
of products and services provided, brands, distribution channels and profile of customers:

•	 Retail: Managed houses and restaurants;  

•	 Pub Partners: Tenanted and leased houses; and 

•	 Brewing & Brands: Brewing beer, marketing and selling. 

These are also considered to be the group’s operating segments and are based on the information presented to the chief executive who 
is considered to be the chief operating decision maker. 

Transfer prices between operating segments are set on an arm’s length basis. 

2012
Revenue
Operating costs
Segment operating profit
Exceptional items
Net finance costs
Income tax expense

Balance sheet
Segment assets
Unallocated assets*

Segment liabilities
Unallocated liabilities*

Net assets
Other segment information
Capital expenditure – tangible assets
Capital expenditure – business combinations
Goodwill acquired
Depreciation
EBITDA**

Retail
£m
 803.9 
 (654.3)
 149.6 

Pub
Partners
£m
 162.7 
 (90.5)
 72.2 

Brewing & 
Brands
£m
 173.8 
 (140.8)
 33.0 

Corporate
£m
 — 
 (18.6)
 (18.6)

 1,823.5 

 841.0 

 374.2 

 41.9 

 1,823.5 
 (75.6)

 841.0 
 (13.3)

(75.6)
 1,747.9 

 (13.3)
 827.7 

 96.4 
 83.1 
 23.5 
 42.1 
 191.7 

 21.6 
 — 
 — 
 8.0 
 80.2 

 374.2 
 (64.5)

 (64.5)
 309.7 

 4.4 
 — 
 — 
 5.4 
 38.4 

 41.9 
 (85.8)

 (85.8)
 (43.9)

 1.0 
 — 
 — 
 0.3 
 (18.3)

 Total
operations
£m
 1,140.4 
 (904.2)
 236.2 
 (24.9)
 (86.2)
 (22.7)
 102.4

 3,080.6 
 107.4
 3,188.0 
 (239.2)
 (2,003.5)
 (2,242.7)
 945.3 

 123.4 
 83.1 
 23.5 
 55.8 
 292.0 

*  Unallocated assets/liabilities comprise cash, borrowings, pensions, net deferred tax, net current tax, and derivatives. 

**   EBITDA represents earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and exceptional items and is calculated as operating profit before exceptionals adjusted for the 

depreciation charge for the period.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

 
 
2 Segment information continued

2011
Revenue
Operating costs
Segment operating profit
Exceptional items
Net finance costs
Income tax expense
Net profit for the period
Balance sheet
Segment assets
Unallocated assets*

Segment liabilities
Unallocated liabilities*

Net assets
Other segment information
Capital expenditure – tangible assets
Capital expenditure – business combinations
Goodwill acquired
Depreciation
EBITDA**

www.greeneking.co.uk

65

Retail
£m
 710.7 
 (578.7)
 132.0 

Pub
Partners
£m
 166.4 
 (91.9)
 74.5 

Brewing &
Brands
£m
 165.6 
 (132.5)
 33.1 

Corporate
£m
 — 
 (17.6)
 (17.6)

 1,663.5 

 877.7 

 378.1 

 38.6 

 1,663.5 
 (84.3)

 877.7 
 (15.7)

 (84.3)
 1,579.2 

 (15.7)
 862.0 

 79.5 
 95.2 
 26.1 
 41.0 
 173.0 

 12.8 
 — 
 — 
 8.1 
 82.6 

 378.1 
 (65.5)

 (65.5)
 312.6 

 5.6 
 — 
 — 
 5.2 
 38.3 

 38.6 
 (69.6)

 (69.6)
 (31.0)

 1.0 
 — 
 — 
 0.3 
 (17.3)

 Total
operations 
£m
 1,042.7 
 (820.7)
 222.0 
 (23.2)
 (82.0)
 (10.0)
 106.8 

 2,957.9 
 108.3
 3,066.2 
 (235.1)
 (1,850.2)
 (2,085.3)
 980.9 

 98.9 
 95.2 
 26.1 
 54.6 
 276.6 

*  Unallocated assets/liabilities comprise cash, borrowings, pensions, net deferred tax, net current tax, and derivatives. 

**   EBITDA represents earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and exceptional items and is calculated as operating profit before exceptionals adjusted for the 

depreciation charge for the period.

Management reporting and controlling systems 
Management monitors the operating results of its strategic business units separately for the purpose of making decisions about allocating resources 
and assessing performance. Segment performance is measured based on segment operating profit or loss referred to as trading profit in our 
management and reporting systems. Included within the corporate column in the table above are functions managed by a central division.  

No information about geographical regions has been provided as the group’s activities are predominantly domestic. 

3 Revenue
Revenue is analysed as follows:

Goods
Services

4 Other income and expenses 
Operating profit is stated after charging/(crediting):

Changes in inventory of finished goods and work in progress
Cost of products sold recognised as an expense
Employment costs (note 6)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment
Operating lease rentals
– minimum lease rentals
Other operating charges
Net profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment

2012
£m
 1,044.7 
 95.7 
 1,140.4 

2011
£m
 947.9 
 94.8 
 1,042.7

Before
exceptional
items
£m
 65.8 
 385.7 
 281.5 
 55.8 

2012

Exceptional
items
£m
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 

 15.6 
 99.8 
 — 
 904.2 

 — 
 25.1 
 (0.2)
 24.9 

Before
exceptional
items
£m
 61.8 
 340.3 
 244.9 
 54.6 

 15.7 
 103.4 
 — 
 820.7 

Total
£m
 65.8 
 385.7 
 281.5 
 55.8 

 15.6 
 124.9 
 (0.2)
 929.1 

2011

Exceptional
items
£m
 — 
 — 
 (5.5)
 — 

 — 
 32.3 
 (3.6)
 23.2 

Total
£m
 61.8 
 340.3 
 239.4 
 54.6 

 15.7 
 135.7 
 (3.6)
 843.9

Financial statements

 
 
 
66

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

4 Other income and expenses continued 
Fees paid to the auditor during the period consisted of:  

Audit of the group financial statements
Other fees to auditor
– auditing of the accounts of subsidiaries
Included in other operating charges

5 Exceptional items

Included in operating profit
Financial systems integration and divisional restructuring
Acquisition and other related costs
Pension and post-employment liabilities credit 
Impairment of property, plant and equipment (note 14)
Net profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment

Included in financing costs
Interest on tax adjustment in respect of prior periods
Total exceptional items before tax
Tax impact of exceptional items 
Tax credit on indexation of properties
Tax credit in respect of rate change
Adjustment in respect of prior periods
Total exceptional tax
Total exceptional items after tax

2012
£m
 0.2 

 0.1 
 0.3 

2012
£m

1.6
5.8
(4.4)
22.1
(0.2)
24.9

2.0
26.9
 (5.1)
 (4.3)
 (12.2)
 6.3
 (15.3)
 11.6 

2011
£m
 0.2 

 0.1 
 0.3 

2011
£m

1.5
1.4
(5.5)
29.4
(3.6)
23.2

—
23.2
 (6.1)
 (1.4)
 (12.9)
 (6.0)
 (26.4)
 (3.2)

Exceptional operating costs
Exceptional divisional restructuring and financial systems integration costs are items of one-off expenditure incurred in connection with the 
restructuring of certain trading divisions within the group and the review of group-wide financial systems.

Acquisition costs are items of one-off expenditure incurred in connection with acquisition of businesses in the year. These costs include legal 
and professional fees incurred by the group and stamp duty which in accordance with IFRS 3 (Revised) can no longer be included within the 
consideration for the acquisition and amount to £3.3m (2011: £1.1m). In addition, as detailed in note 17, acquisition costs include a charge of 
£2.5m (2011: £0.3m) in respect of amounts payable, two years post acquisition and subject to the future profitability of the businesses, to the 
former owners of Cloverleaf Restaurants and Realpubs, respectively, who have remained employees of the group.

The credit of £4.4m in respect of post-employment liabilities is as a result of the curtailment of discretionary benefits provided to retired 
members of the main defined benefit pension scheme. The £5.5m credit in the prior year resulted following curtailment to discretionary 
pension payments paid to members of the defined benefit pension scheme retiring early.

The net profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment of £0.2m (2011: £3.6m) comprises a total profit on disposal of £7.6m (2011: £8.3m) 
and a total loss on disposal of £7.4m (2011: £4.7m).

Exceptional tax
The tax credit on indexation of properties represents the tax impact of movements in RPI during the period on the tax base cost of properties. 

The Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968 reduced the rate of corporation tax from 26% to 24% from 1 April 2012. The effect of the new rate 
is to reduce the deferred tax provision by a net £8.8m, comprising a credit to the group income statement of £12.2m, a debit to group statement 
of comprehensive income of £3.2m and a debit of £0.2m to the group statement of changes in equity.

The adjustment in respect of prior periods is in respect of £1.6m deferred taxation on revaluation and rolled over gains on land and buildings, 
and £4.7m reversal of tax relief previously taken on intra group transactions. The £2.0m finance costs relate to the adjustment of prior period tax.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

67

2012
£m
 254.1 
 3.9 
 258.0 
 17.4 

 4.2 
 1.9 
 281.5 

2011
£m
 218.3 
 3.0 
 221.3 
 17.4 

 (0.9)
 1.6 
 239.4

2012
 20,704 
 153 
 829 
 398 
 22,084 

2011
 18,969 
 92 
 878 
 279 
 20,218

6 Employment costs

Wages and salaries
Other share-based payments (note 8)
Total wages and salaries
Social security costs
Other pension costs (note 9)
– defined benefit
– defined contribution

The total expense of share-based payments relates to equity-settled schemes.

The average number of employees during the period was as follows: 

Retail
Pub Partners
Brewing & Brands
Corporate

The figures above include 11,019 (2011: 11,278) part-time employees.

Details of directors’ emoluments are shown in the directors’ remuneration report on page 45. 

7 Finance (costs)/income

Bank loans and overdrafts
Other loans 
Interest on tax adjustment in respect of prior period
Total finance costs
Unwinding of discount element of provisions
Net finance expense from pensions
Other net finance income/(expense)
Bank interest receivable
Total finance income
Net finance costs

Before
exceptional
items
£m
 (8.4)
 (78.7)
—
 (87.1)
 (0.4)
 2.3 
 1.9 
 1.0 
 1.0 
 (84.2)

2012

Exceptional
items
£m
 — 
 — 
(2.0)
 (2.0) 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 (2.0)

Before
exceptional
items
£m
 (5.4)
 (79.5)
—
 (84.9)
 (0.4)
 (0.2)
 (0.6)
 3.5 
 3.5 
 (82.0)

2011

Exceptional
items
£m
 — 
 — 
—
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 

Total
£m
 (8.4)
 (78.7)
(2.0)
 (89.1)
 (0.4)
 2.3 
 1.9 
 1.0 
 1.0 
 (86.2)

Total
£m
 (5.4)
 (79.5)
—
 (84.9)
 (0.4)
 (0.2)
 (0.6)
 3.5 
 3.5 
 (82.0)

8 Share-based payment plans
The group operates three types of share-based payment arrangements: a senior management long-term incentive plan (LTIP), a deferred 
share bonus scheme for senior executives and a general employee share option plan (SAYE). In prior periods executive share option plans 
(ESOS) were also operated.

The general terms of each plan are detailed in the directors’ remuneration report on pages 45 to 47. All are equity-settled.

The total charge recognised for the period arising from share-based payment transactions including National Insurance contributions 
is £4.4m (2011: £3.5m). A corresponding credit of £3.9m (2011: £3.0m) has been recognised in equity.

Financial statements

 
 
68

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

8 Share-based payment plans continued
The fair value of equity-settled options and LTIP contingently issued shares are estimated using a Black-Scholes model. The fair value of the 
grants and model inputs used to calculate the fair values of grants during the period were as follows:

2012
Weighted average share price
Exercise price
Expected dividend yield
Risk-free rate of return
Volatility
Expected life (years)
Weighted average fair value of grants in the year

2011
Weighted average share price
Exercise price
Expected dividend yield
Risk-free rate of return
Volatility
Expected life (years)
Weighted average fair value of grants in the year

LTIP
455p
 — 
4.9%
1.4%
42.9%
3.0
393p

LTIP
413p
 — 
4.5%
1.3%
49.0%
3.0
354p

 SAYE 
522p
387p
4.9%
0.6%
33.2%
3.3
133p

 SAYE 
474p
368p
4.5%
1.9%
47.1%
3.3
158p

Risk-free rate of return is the yield on zero coupon UK government bonds with the same life as the expected option life. Expected volatility 
is based on historical volatility of the company’s share price which assumes that the past trend in share price movement is indicative of future 
trends. Expected life of options has been taken as the mid-point of the relevant exercise period. This is not necessarily indicative of future 
exercise patterns. 

No other feature of the equity instruments granted was incorporated into the fair value measurement.

Movement in outstanding options and rights during the period is as follows:

ESOS
Outstanding at the beginning of the period
Forfeited
Exercised
Outstanding at the end of the period
Exercisable at the end of the period

 Number of options

 Weighted average 
exercise price

2012
m
 2.6* 
 (1.5)
 (0.1)
 1.0* 
1.0

2011
m
 4.5* 
 (1.4)
 (0.5)
 2.6* 
1.1

2012
p
451
452
381
451
451

2011
p
680
827
322
451
453

* 

 Balance at the beginning of the period includes nil (2011: 0.3m) shares under options granted pre- 7 November 2002 and nil (2011: nil) at the end of period. The options 
have not been modified and therefore are not accounted for in accordance with IFRS 2.

 Number of options

 Weighted average 
exercise price

SAYE
Outstanding at the beginning of the period
Granted
Forfeited
Exercised
Outstanding at the end of the period
Exercisable at the end of the period

LTIP
Outstanding at the beginning of the period
Granted
Forfeited
Vested
Outstanding at the end of the period
Exercisable at the end of the period

2012
m
2.0
0.8
 (0.3)
 (0.5)
 2.0 
0.4

2011
m
2.1
0.5
 (0.5)
 (0.1)
 2.0 
0.2

2012
p
335
387
375
282
363
324

 Number of shares

2012
m
2.3
1.1
 (0.5)
 — 
 2.9
 — 

2011
p
347
368
403
400
335
487

2011
m
2.1
1.3
 (1.1)
 — 
 2.3 
 — 

The options and shares granted under the LTIP are at nil cost therefore the weighted average exercise price for rights outstanding at the 
beginning and end of the period, granted, forfeited and exercised during the period is £nil (2011: £nil).

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

69

8 Share-based payment plans continued
ESOS, SAYE and LTIP
Options were exercised on a range of dates. The weighted average share price through the period was 483p in 2012 and 441p in 2011.

The rights outstanding at 29 April 2012 under the LTIP had an exercise price of £nil (2011: £nil) and a weighted average remaining 
contractual life of 1.4 years (2011: 1.7 years).  

The outstanding options for the ESOS scheme had an exercise price between 296p and 528p (2011: 296p – 872p) and for the SAYE scheme 
between 274p and 694p (2010: 274p and 694p).

The weighted average remaining contractual life was 2.6 years for the ESOS (2011: 5.7 years) and 3.0 years for the SAYE scheme (2011: 2.7 years).

Deferred share bonus scheme
Selected senior executives participate in a deferred share bonus scheme. Awards made under this scheme are based on a percentage of salary 
and are paid in shares. Awards are made to eligible employees on the achievement of corporate targets and vest once required service periods 
are completed. During the year 0.1m shares were purchased to fulfil awards made in 2010/11 under this scheme.

9 Pensions
The group maintains a defined contribution scheme, which is open to all new employees, and three defined benefit schemes. 

The group also has a past service liability in relation to post-employment medical benefits offered to employees to cover any medical costs 
after employment. The benefit is no longer given to new employees.

Defined contribution pension scheme
Member funds for the defined contribution scheme are held and administered by the Prudential Assurance Company. The total cost 
recognised in operating profit for the period was £1.9m (2011: £1.6m).

Defined benefit pension schemes and post-employment benefits
The group maintains the following defined benefit schemes which are all closed to new entrants and have had full actuarial valuations 
in the last three years: Greene King Pension Scheme (closed 2 May 1997, last valued as at 5 April 2009), Belhaven Pension Scheme (closed 
31 October 2005, last valued as at 4 May 2011), and the Hardys & Hansons Pension Scheme (closed 1 July 2003, last valued as at 30 April 2009).

Member funds for the defined benefit schemes are held in separate funds independently of the group’s finances and are administered by 
pension trustees. Pension benefits are related to members’ final salary at retirement and their length of service.

The group has opted to recognise all actuarial gains and losses immediately via the statement of comprehensive income.

The total cost recognised in the income statement was:

Current service cost
Curtailments
Total recognised in operating profit
Expected return on pension scheme assets
Interest on scheme liabilities
Total finance income/(cost) recognised

Pension schemes

Post-employment benefits

2012
£m
 (4.2)
 — 
 (4.2)
 17.6 
 (15.0)
 2.6 

2011
 £m 
 (4.6)
 5.5 
 0.9 
 15.7 
 (15.6)
 0.1 

2012
£m
 — 
 4.4 
 4.4 
 — 
 (0.3)
 (0.3)

2011
 £m 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 (0.3)
 (0.3)

During the year there was a curtailment to discretionary post-employment benefits provided to retired members of the defined benefit 
pension scheme which resulted in an exceptional credit to the income statement of £4.4m (see note 5). The credit in the prior year of £5.5m 
resulted following a curtailment to discretionary pension payments paid to members of the defined benefit pension scheme who retired early.

The total charge recognised in the statement of comprehensive income was:

Actual return on scheme assets
Less: expected return on scheme assets
Experience gains and losses on scheme assets
Experience gains arising on scheme liabilities
(Losses)/gains arising on scheme liabilities due to changes in actuarial assumptions
Actuarial (loss)/gain recognised through equity

Pension schemes

Post-employment benefits

2012
£m
 (1.9)
 (17.6)
 (19.5)
 2.4 
 (16.0)
 (33.1)

2011
 £m 
 26.1 
 (15.7)
 10.4 
 0.7 
 8.1 
 19.2 

2012
£m
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 

2011
 £m 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 

In July 2010 the government changed the statutory rate of inflation to which pension increases are linked from RPI to CPI. The effect of this 
change on the group’s pension schemes in the prior year was to reduce the total liability by £3.7m. This adjustment was reflected within the 
actuarial gain on scheme liabilities arising from changes in actuarial assumptions.

Financial statements

70

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

9 Pensions continued
Defined benefit pension schemes and post-employment benefits continued
The total contributions to the defined benefit pension schemes in the following period are expected to be £12.9m (2011: £13.3m) for the group.

The values of the schemes’ liabilities have been determined by a qualified actuary based on the results of the last actuarial valuation, updated 
to 29 April 2012 using the following principal actuarial assumptions:

Discount rate
Expected rates of salary increases
Expected pension payment increases
Rate of inflation (RPI)
Rate of inflation (CPI)
Healthcare cost increase

The mortality assumptions imply the following expectations of years of life from age 65:

Man currently aged 40
Woman currently aged 40
Man currently aged 65
Woman currently aged 65

2012
4.7%
4.0%
2.9%
3.0%
2.3%
9.0%

 23.6 
 26.2 
 21.2 
 24.0 

2011
5.4%
4.3%
3.2%
3.3%
2.8%
9.0%

 23.0 
 25.7 
 21.1 
 23.9 

Mortality assumptions are based on standard tables adjusted for scheme experience and with an allowance for future improvement 
in life expectancy. Overall expected rate of return on assets is established by applying brokers’ forecasts to each category of scheme asset. 

The table below shows the investment allocation of pension assets against the related liabilities of the pension schemes and other 
post-employment benefits: 

Equities
With profits
Bonds
Property
Cash
Fair value of assets
Present value of scheme liabilities 
Funded plans
Unfunded plans
Non-current liability recognised

Pension plans

Long-term rate of return 
expected

Value

Post-employment benefits

2012
%
7.1
4.6
4.2
7.1
0.5

2011
%
8.2
5.4
5.2
8.2
0.5

2012
£m
 176.6 
 53.9 
 4.2 
 0.3 
 2.3 
 237.3 

2011
£m
 180.7 
 2.3 
 47.9 
 0.3 
 3.6 
 234.8 

 (304.6)
 — 
 (67.3)

 (280.5)
 — 
 (45.7)

2012
£m
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 

 — 
 (1.5)
 (1.5)

2011
£m
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 — 

 — 
 (5.7)
 (5.7)

The movements in the pension schemes’ net liability and post-employment benefits liability during the period are as follows:  

Pension assets

Pension liabilities

Net pension liability

2012
£m
 234.8 
 — 
 — 
 17.6 
 13.1 
 0.8 
 — 
 (9.5)
 (19.5)
 237.3 

2011
£m
 205.6 
 — 
 — 
 15.7 
 12.8 
 0.9 
 — 
 (10.6)
 10.4 
 234.8 

2012
£m
 (280.5)
 (4.2)
 (15.0)
 — 
 — 
 (0.8)
 — 
 9.5 
 (13.6)
 (304.6)

2011
£m
 (284.3)
 (4.6)
 (15.6)
 — 
 — 
 (0.9)
 5.5 
 10.6 
 8.8 
 (280.5)

2012
£m
 (45.7)
 (4.2)
 (15.0)
 17.6 
 13.1 
 — 
 — 
 — 
 (33.1)
 (67.3)

2011
£m
 (78.7)
 (4.6)
 (15.6)
 15.7 
 12.8 
 — 
 5.5 
 — 
 19.2 
 (45.7)

At beginning of period
Current service cost
Interest cost on benefit obligations
Expected return on plan assets
Contributions paid – employers
Contributions paid – employees
Settlements and curtailments (note 5)
Benefits paid
Actuarial (loss)/gain
At end of period

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

 
www.greeneking.co.uk

71

9 Pensions continued
Defined benefit pension schemes and post-employment benefits continued

At beginning of period
Interest cost on benefit obligations
Settlements and curtailments (note 5)
Benefits paid
At end of period

History of experience adjustments for the current and previous four periods is as follows:

Pension schemes:
Defined benefit obligation
Plan assets
Deficit
Experience adjustments on scheme liabilities
Percentage of scheme liabilities
Experience adjustments on scheme assets
Percentage of scheme assets

Post-employment benefits:
Benefit obligation
Experience adjustments on benefit obligation

2012
£m
 (304.6)
 237.3 
 (67.3)
 2.4 
(0.8%)
 (19.5)
(8.2%)

2012
£m
 (1.5)
 — 

2011
£m
 (280.5)
 234.8 
 (45.7)
 0.7 
(0.2%)
 10.4 
4.4%

2011
£m
 (5.7)
 — 

2010
£m
 (284.3)
 205.6 
 (78.7)
 4.1 
(1.4%)
 37.9 
18.4%

2010
£m
 (5.6)
 — 

Post-employment  
benefits liability

2012
£m
 (5.7)
 (0.3)
 4.4 
 0.1 
 (1.5)

2009
£m
 (251.3)
 159.7 
 (91.6)
 2.6 
(1.0%)
 (53.3)
(33.4%)

2009
£m
 (5.5)
 — 

2011
£m
 (5.6)
 (0.3)
 — 
 0.2 
 (5.7)

2008
£m
 (267.3)
 198.9 
 (68.4)
 (1.6)
0.6%
 (18.3)
(9.2%)

2008
£m
 (5.4)
 — 

The cumulative amount of actuarial gains and losses recognised since 3 May 2004 in the statement of comprehensive income is a £27.1m loss 
(2011: £6.0m gain). The amount prior to 3 May 2004 is not determinable as valuations were performed under different accounting and 
actuarial bases.

The sensitivities regarding the principal assumptions used to measure the scheme liabilities are set out below:

0.25% points increase in discount rate
0.25% points increase in inflation assumption
Additional one year increase to life expectancy

10 Taxation

Consolidated income statement
Income tax
Corporation tax before exceptional items
Recoverable on exceptional items
Current income tax 
Adjustment in respect of prior periods

Deferred tax
Origination and reversal of temporary differences
Adjustment in respect of prior periods
Tax credit in respect of rate change

Tax charge in the income statement

 (Increase)/decrease

 in liability 

 2012 
 £m 
 13.1 
 (13.1)
 (8.4)

2011
 £m 
 11.6 
 (11.2)
 (6.3)

2012

Before
 exceptional
items
£m

Exceptional
 items
£m

 38.1 
 — 
 38.1 
 (1.8)
 36.3 

 1.7 
 — 
 — 
 1.7 
 38.0 

 — 
 (0.9)
 (0.9)
 (0.5)
 (1.4)

 (8.5)
 6.8 
 (12.2)
 (13.9)
 (15.3)

2011

Before
 exceptional
 items
£m

Exceptional
 items
£m

 38.0 
 — 
 38.0 
 — 
 38.0 

 (1.6)
 — 
 — 
 (1.6)
 36.4 

 — 
 (0.7)
 (0.7)
 — 
 (0.7)

 (6.8)
 (6.0)
 (12.9)
 (25.7)
 (26.4)

Total
£m

 38.1 
 (0.9)
 37.2 
 (2.3)
 34.9 

 (6.8)
 6.8 
 (12.2)
 (12.2)
 22.7 

Total
£m

 38.0 
 (0.7)
 37.3 
 — 
 37.3 

 (8.4)
 (6.0)
 (12.9)
 (27.3)
 10.0 

Financial statements

72

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

10 Taxation continued

Group statement of comprehensive income
Deferred tax
(Loss)/gain on actuarial valuation of pension liability
Net (loss) on revaluation on cash flow hedges
Tax charge in respect of rate change 

Group statement of changes in equity
Deferred tax
Share-based payment – future taxable benefit
Tax charge in respect of rate change
Deferred tax reported in equity
Income tax
Share-based payments – current taxable benefit
Total tax reported in equity

Reconciliation of income tax expense for period
The effective rate of taxation is lower than the full rate of corporation tax. The differences are explained below:

Profit before tax
Profit before tax multiplied by standard rate corporation tax 25.8% (2011: 27.8%)
Effects of:
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes
Exceptional deferred tax credit on indexation of properties
Exceptional tax credit in respect of rate change
Tax credit on intra group transactions
Adjustment in respect of prior periods – income tax
Adjustment in respect of prior periods – deferred tax charge/(credit)
Income tax expense reported in the income statement

Deferred tax
The deferred tax included in the balance sheet is as follows:

Deferred tax liability
Accelerated capital allowances
Rolled over gains and property revaluation

Deferred tax asset
Pensions and post–employment medical benefits
Other accruals and deferred income
Derivatives
Share-based payment
Tax losses carried forward

Net deferred tax liability

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

2012
£m

 (7.9)
 (20.3)
3.2
 (25.0)

2012
£m

 (0.3)
0.2
 (0.1)

 (0.2)
 (0.3)

2012
£m
 125.1 
 32.3 

 2.4 
 (4.3)
 (12.2)
 — 
 (2.3)
 6.8 
 22.7 

2012
£m

47.1 
103.6 
150.7

(16.4)
(2.7)
(47.1)
(2.4)
(2.0)
(70.6)
80.1 

2011
£m

 5.0 
 (2.0) 
3.8
 6.8 

2011
£m

 (0.7)
—
 (0.7)

 — 
 (0.7)

2011
£m
 116.8 
 32.5 

 1.0 
 (1.4)
 (12.9)
 (3.2)
 — 
 (6.0)
 10.0

2011
£m

51.4 
111.7 
163.1

(13.3)
(2.9)
(29.0)
(1.9)
(1.6) 
(48.7)
114.4 

www.greeneking.co.uk

73

10 Taxation continued
The deferred tax included in the income statement is as follows:

Deferred tax in the income statement
Accelerated capital allowances
Rolled over gains and property revaluations
Pensions and post-employment medical benefit
Share-based payments
Tax losses carried forward
Other temporary differences
Deferred tax expense

Before 
exceptional
items
£m
(1.1)
— 
2.7 
(0.4)
0.5 
— 
1.7 

2012

Exceptional
items
£m
(3.9)
(11.4)
1.1 
— 
0.1 
0.2 
(13.9)

Before
exceptional
items
£m
(2.9)
— 
2.2 
(0.9)
— 
— 
(1.6)

Total
£m
(5.0)
(11.4)
3.8 
(0.4)
0.6 
0.2 
(12.2)

The movements on deferred tax assets and liabilities during the period are shown below:

Deferred tax liabilities
At 2 May 2010
Credit to the income statement
Acquired
At 1 May 2011
Credit to the income statement
Acquired
At 29 April 2012

Deferred tax assets
At 2 May 2010
Charge/(credit) to equity/comprehensive income
Charge/(credit) to the income statement
Acquired
At 1 May 2011
Credit to equity/comprehensive income
Charge/(credit) to the income statement
Acquired
At 29 April 2012

Accelerated
capital
allowances
£m
57.3
(7.0)
1.1
51.4
(5.0)
0.7
47.1

Pensions
and post-
employment
medical
benefits
£m
(23.6)
6.7
3.6
— 
(13.3)
(6.9)
3.8
—
(16.4)

Other
accruals
and
deferred
income
£m
(3.1)
—
0.2
— 
(2.9)
—
0.2
— 
(2.7)

Derivatives
£m
(29.1)
0.1
—
— 
(29.0)
(18.1)
—
—
(47.1)

Share-based
payments
£m
(0.3)
(0.7)
(0.9)
— 
(1.9)
(0.1)
(0.4)
—
(2.4)

2011

Exceptional
items
£m
(4.1)
(23.2)
1.4 
— 
— 
0.2 
(25.7)

Rolled over
gains and 
property
revaluation
£m
126.5
(23.2)
8.4
111.7
(11.4)
3.3
103.6

Tax 
losses
carried
forward
£m
—
—
—
(1.6)
(1.6)
—
0.6
(1.0)
(2.0)

Total
£m
(7.0)
(23.2)
3.6 
(0.9)
— 
0.2 
(27.3)

Total
£m
183.8
(30.2)
9.5
163.1
(16.4)
4.0
150.7

Total
£m
(56.1)
6.1
2.9
(1.6)
(48.7)
(25.1)
4.2
(1.0)
(70.6)

There are no income tax consequences attaching to the payment of dividends by Greene King plc to its shareholders. 

Factors that may affect future tax charges
In addition to the reduction in the rate of corporation tax from 26% to 24% during the period it is proposed to reduce the rate by 1% per 
annum to 22% by 1 April 2014. These further reductions had not been substantively enacted at the balance sheet date and consequently are 
not included in these financial statements. The effect of these proposals would be to reduce the deferred tax liability by a further £6.7m.

Financial statements

74

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

11 Dividends paid and proposed

Declared and paid in the period
Interim dividend for 2012 – 6.7p (2011: 6.3p)
Final dividend for 2011 – 16.8p (2010: 15.6p)

Proposed for approval at AGM
Final dividend for 2012 – 18.1p (2011: 16.8p)
Total proposed dividend for 2012 – 24.8p (2011: 23.1p)

Dividends on own shares have been waived.

2012
£m

 14.4 
 36.2 
 50.6 

 39.0 
 53.4 

2011
£m

 13.6 
 33.5 
 47.1

 36.2 
 49.8 

12 Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share has been calculated by dividing the profit attributable to equity holders of £102.4m (2011: £106.8m) by the weighted 
average number of shares in issue during the period (excluding own shares held) of 215.0m (2011: 214.8m).  

Diluted earnings per share has been calculated on a similar basis taking account of 0.6m (2011: 0.6m) dilutive potential shares under option, 
giving a weighted average number of ordinary shares adjusted for the effect of dilution of 215.6m (2011: 215.4m). Share options granted over 
0.5m shares (2011: 0.6m) have not been included in the diluted earnings per share calculation because they are anti-dilutive at the year end. 
The performance conditions for share options granted over 2.9m (2011: 1.9m) shares have not been met in the current financial period and 
therefore the dilutive effect of the number of shares which would have been issued at the period end has not been included in the diluted 
earnings per share calculation.

Adjusted earnings per share excludes the effect of exceptional items and is presented to show the underlying performance of the group on 
both a basic and dilutive basis.

Adjusted earnings per share

Profit attributable to equity holders
Exceptional items
Profit attributable to equity holders before exceptional items

Earnings

2012
£m
 102.4 
 11.6 
 114.0 

2011
£m
 106.8 
 (3.2)
 103.6 

Basic earnings
 per share

Diluted earnings
 per share

2012
p
 47.6 
 5.4 
 53.0 

2011
p
 49.7 
 (1.5)
 48.2 

2012
p
 47.5 
 5.4 
 52.9 

Treasury shares and shares held by the EBT are excluded from the calculation of weighted average number of shares in issue.

13 Goodwill

Cost
At 2 May 2010
Acquired through business combinations (note 17)
At 1 May 2011
Acquired through business combinations (note 17)
At 29 April 2012

All goodwill was purchased as part of business combinations. As from 3 May 2004, the date of transition to IFRS, goodwill is no longer 
amortised but is subject to annual impairment testing.

Goodwill has been allocated to operating segments, the lowest group of cash generating units in the group at which goodwill is monitored 
internally, based on the extent that the benefits of acquisitions flow to that segment.

The carrying amount of goodwill has been allocated £354.0m (2011: £330.5m) to Retail, £160.8m (2011: £160.8m) to Pub Partners, and £214.5m 
(2011: £214.5m) to Brewing & Brands.

The recoverable amount of each segment was determined on a value-in use basis, using cash flow projections based on one year budgets 
approved by the board, and in all cases exceeded the carrying amount. The key assumptions used in the value-in-use calculations are the 
pre-tax discount rate and the growth rate used to extrapolate cash flows beyond the budgeted period.

Cash flows are discounted at 9.0% (2011: 9.0%) which is used as an approximation for the risk-adjusted discount rate of the relevant operating 
segment. A growth rate of 2.0% (2011: 2.0%) has been used to extrapolate cash flows. The growth rate is considered a conservative rate and is 
below the long-term average growth rate for the industry.

Sensitivity to changes in assumptions
The calculation is most sensitive to changes in the assumptions used for budgeted cash flow, pre-tax discount rate and growth rate. Management 
considers that reasonable possible changes in assumptions would be an increase in discount of 1% point, a reduction in growth rate of 1% 
point or a 10% reduction in budgeted cash flow. As an indication of sensitivity, when applied to the value-in-use calculation none of these 
changes would have resulted in an impairment of goodwill in the period.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

2011
p
 49.6 
 (1.5)
 48.1 

 £m 

679.7 
26.1 
705.8 
23.5 
729.3 

 
14 Property, plant and equipment

Cost
Balances at 2 May 2010
Additions during period
Acquisitions (note 17)
Transfer to property, plant and equipment held for sale
Disposals during period
Balances at 1 May 2011
Additions during period
Acquisitions (note 17)
Transfer to property, plant and equipment held for sale
Disposals during period
Balances at 29 April 2012
Depreciation and impairment
Balances at 2 May 2010
Written back on disposals
Transfer to property, plant and equipment held for sale
Provided during the year
Impairment (see below)
Balances at 1 May 2011
Written back on disposals
Transfer to property, plant and equipment held for sale
Provided during the year
Impairment (see below)
Balances at 29 April 2012
Net book value
At 29 April 2012
At 1 May 2011
At 2 May 2010

www.greeneking.co.uk

75

Licensed estate

Other

Land and
buildings
£m

Plant and
equipment
£m

Land and
buildings
£m

Plant and
equipment
£m

1,814.3 
55.6 
88.9 
(3.9)
(19.1)
1,935.8 
70.8 
83.1 
(7.0)
(24.0)
2,058.7 

86.6 
(0.9)
(0.6)
0.3 
29.4 
114.8 
(1.5)
(1.5)
0.3 
22.1 
134.2 

1,924.5 
1,821.0 
1,727.7 

482.8 
37.0 
6.3 
(0.8)
(6.0)
519.3 
47.1 
— 
(1.3)
(8.0)
557.1 

298.8 
(3.7)
(0.4)
48.8 
— 
343.5 
(5.3)
(0.6)
49.8 
— 
387.4 

169.7 
175.8 
184.0 

63.9 
0.3 
— 
— 
(4.1)
60.1 
0.2 
— 
— 
(0.1)
60.2 

8.4 
(0.5)
— 
0.4 
— 
8.3 
— 
— 
0.4 
— 
8.7 

51.5 
51.8 
55.5 

 Total 
£m

2,469.1 
98.9 
95.2 
(4.7)
(29.4)
2,629.1 
123.4 
83.1 
(8.3)
(33.8)
2,793.5 

456.4 
(5.2)
(1.0)
54.6 
29.4 
534.2 
(7.8)
(2.1)
55.8 
22.1 
602.2 

108.1 
6.0 
— 
— 
(0.2)
113.9 
5.3 
— 
— 
(1.7)
117.5 

62.6 
(0.1)
— 
5.1 
— 
67.6 
(1.0)
— 
5.3 
— 
71.9 

45.6 
46.3 
45.5 

2,191.3 
2,094.9 
2,012.7 

The licensed estate relates to properties, and assets held within those properties, licensed to trade (ie managed, tenanted and leased houses).

Other assets relate to property, plant and equipment associated with unlicensed properties (ie brewing, distribution, and central assets).

The net book value of land and buildings comprises:

Freehold properties
Leasehold properties >50 years unexpired term
Leasehold properties <50 years unexpired term

2012
£m
1,880.8 
59.5 
35.7 
1,976.0 

2011
£m
1,776.5 
71.1 
25.2 
1,872.8 

Valuation
The licensed estate properties were valued by the group’s own professionally qualified chartered surveyors, as at 20 December 2003, on the 
basis of existing use value, in accordance with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Appraisal and Valuation Standards. A representative 
sample of properties was also valued by external valuers, Gerald Eve Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants, who confirmed that the 
values were consistent with their appraisal. Frozen revaluation has been taken as deemed cost on the transition to IFRS, therefore no historic 
cost analysis is provided.

Up to 1999 the brewery and depots were valued at depreciated replacement cost and other properties at open market value. These valuations 
have been retained but they have not been updated. Subsequent additions have been included at cost or, in the case of acquisitions, at fair value.

Financial statements

76

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

14 Property, plant and equipment continued
Charges over assets
Included in land and buildings are properties with a net book value of £1,433.9m (2011: £1,429.6m) over which there is a first charge in favour 
of the securitised debt holders as detailed in note 23.

Future capital expenditure

Contracted for

2012
£m
9.9 

2011
£m
2.4 

Impairment of property plant and equipment
During the year £22.1m of impairment losses (2011: £29.4m) were recognised in the income statement as exceptional costs. These are analysed 
between the group’s principal reporting segments as shown below:

Retail
Pub Partners

2012
£m
 2.5 
 19.6 
22.1 

2011
£m
 8.9 
 20.5 
29.4 

The group considers that each of its individual pubs is a cash generating unit (CGU). Each CGU is reviewed annually for indicators 
of impairment. When indicators of impairment are identified the carrying value of the CGU is compared to its recoverable amount. 
The recoverable amount is the higher of the CGU’s fair value less costs to sell and its value-in-use.

The group estimates value-in-use using a discounted cash flow model. The key assumptions used are the discount rate applied to cash flow 
projections of 9% (2011: 9%) and the projected cash flows extrapolated using an average growth rate of 2% (2011: 2%) which is below the 
long-term average growth rate for the industry. Other commercial assumptions relating to individual CGUs have been made based on historic 
trends adjusted for management’s estimates of medium-term trading prospects.

The impairment recognised in the Retail and Pub Partners estates are primarily the result of the reduced trading performance of a relatively 
small number of pubs due to a combination of site specific trading circumstances and the general weakening of the UK consumer environment 
seen in the year.

Sensitivity to changes in assumptions
The level of impairment is predominantly dependent upon judgments used in arriving at fair values, future growth rates and the discount rate 
applied to cash flow projections. The impact on the impairment charge of applying different assumptions to the growth rates used to calculate 
cash flow projections and in the pre-tax discount rates would be as follows:

Increased impairment resulting from a 10% reduction in fair value:

2012
£m

0.4
3.6
4.0

2012
£m
 0.8 
 3.3 
4.1 

2012
£m
 0.8 
 3.3 
4.1

2011
£m

1.9
4.2

6.1

2011
£m
 1.7 
 2.9 
4.6 

2011
£m
 1.7 
 2.9 
4.6

Retail
Pub Partners

Increased impairment resulting from a 1% increase in discount rate: 

Retail
Pub Partners

Increased impairment resulting from a 1% reduction in growth rate: 

Retail
Pub Partners

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

15 Financial assets

Trade loans (net of provision)
Total current
Trade loans (net of provision)
Investments
Total non-current

www.greeneking.co.uk

77

2012
£m
6.2 
6.2 
30.4 
2.4 
32.8 

2011
£m
4.6 
 4.6 
34.2 
1.6 
35.8 

Trade loans are net of provisions of £4.6m (2011: £4.6m). During the year £0.1m (2011: £0.3m) of the provision was utilised and £0.1m 
(2011: £0.3m) of new provision created. All trade loans, net of any provision recognised, are considered to be neither past due nor impaired. 

Trade loans are advanced to customers on terms linked to supply terms such that returns are greater than interest income. The fixed rate 
trade loans amounted to £24.4m (2011: £26.8m) and variable rate trade loans amounted to £16.8m (2011: £16.6m). Included in fixed rate loans 
are £6.4m of loans with settlement related to purchase levels (2011: £6.6m). The write down of these loans has been taken on a straight-line 
basis over the remaining term of the loan as an approximation of the settlement.

The fixed rate trade loans had a weighted average interest rate of 3.79% (2011: 2.65%) and a weighted average period of 6.73 years 
(2011 – 6.77 years). Interest rates on variable rate trade loans are linked to base rate. 

Trade loans

Balance at beginning of period
Advances
Repayments
Provisions
Balance at end of period

16 Subsidiary undertakings
The main subsidiary undertakings are: 

Subsidiary undertakings
Greene King Brewing and Retailing Limited
Greene King Retailing Parent Limited
Greene King Pubs Limited
Greene King Investments Limited
Greene King Retailing Limited
Greene King Services Limited
Greene King Retail Services Limited
Greene King Properties Limited 
Hardys & Hansons Limited
Belhaven Brewery Company Limited
Belhaven Pubs Limited
Cloverleaf Restaurants Limited
Loch Fyne Restaurants Limited
The Capital Pub Company Limited 
Belhaven Group Properties Limited

Principal
 activity 
 Brewing and retailing 
 Holding company 
 Holding company 
 Holding company 
 Pub retailing 
 Employment 
 Employment 
Property
 Employment 
 Employment 
Employment
 Employment 
 Retailing 
 Holding company 
 Property 

Held by
Subsidiary
Parent
Parent
Parent
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Parent
Subsidiary

 Holding 
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares
Ordinary shares

2012
£m
38.8 
4.4 
(6.6)
— 
36.6 

2011
£m
40.3 
7.4 
(8.9)
— 
38.8 

Proportion
of voting
rights
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

Financial statements

 
78

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

17 Business combinations
On 19 July 2011 an agreement was reached on the terms of a recommended offer for the entire issued share capital of The Capital Pub Company. 
The offer was declared unconditional on 22 August 2011 with the group assuming control of The Capital Pub Company from 3 September 2011.

On 5 September 2011 the group announced its intention to compulsorily acquire all outstanding shares in The Capital Pub Company, with all 
purchases completed by 24 October 2012.

Fair value of assets acquired
Property, plant and equipment
Investments
Inventories
Trade receivables
Other receivables/prepayments
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade payables
Other payables/accruals
Deferred tax
Derivatives
Debt acquired
Fair value of net assets acquired
Goodwill
Consideration

The net cash flow impact of the acquisition is:

Cash consideration
Cash acquired

Repayment of acquired debt

The 
Capital
Pub 
Company
£m
83.1
0.7
0.4
0.1
3.3
1.4
(2.2)
(3.7)
(3.0)
(4.1)
(27.3)
48.7
23.5
72.2

The
Capital
Pub
Company
£m
72.2
(1.4)
70.8
27.3
98.1

The consideration together with the net debt acquired of £25.9m and subsequent receipt of share option proceeds of £2.1m totals £96.0m 
and includes £2.7m relating to an additional pub acquired after the announcement of the offer on 19 July 2011.

Goodwill has arisen primarily due to expected operating synergies and the difference between property portfolio value and value-in-use.

The fair value of properties acquired was established following a review of properties that was carried out by qualified surveyors employed 
by the group. Properties have been revalued at their existing use value. The values of other current assets and liabilities have been adjusted to 
amounts to be realised or paid respectively.

Since 3 September 2011 The Capital Pub Company has contributed revenue of £20.6m and operating profits of £4.2m.

If the acquisition had taken place at the beginning of the period the group’s consolidated operating profit for the 52 week period to 29 April 2012 
would have increased by £2.3m and consolidated revenue by £10.9m. 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

79

17 Business combinations continued
During the prior period the group acquired 100% of Cloverleaf Restaurants on 28 January 2011 and 100% of the Realpubs group on 27 April 2011. 
The group also acquired a package of four pubs from Punch Taverns for £5.3m on 8 July 2010.

Fair value of assets acquired
Property, plant and equipment
Inventories
Other receivables/prepayments
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade payables
Other payables/accruals
Current tax
Deferred tax
Derivatives
Debt acquired
Fair value of net assets acquired
Goodwill
Consideration

The net cash flow impact of the acquisitions are expected to be:

Cash consideration
Cash acquired

Repayment of acquired debt
Other future cash payments (see below)

Pub package
£m
5.3
—
—
—
—
—
— 
— 
— 
— 
5.3
— 
5.3

Pub package
£m
(5.3)
— 
(5.3)
— 
— 
(5.3)

Cloverleaf
£m
49.0
0.2
0.2
1.0
(1.9)
(0.9)
— 
(4.9)
—
(22.2)
20.5
12.0
32.5

Cloverleaf
£m
(32.5)
1.0
(31.5)
(22.2)
(2.0)
(55.7)

Realpubs
£m
40.9
0.2
0.3
3.7
(0.9)
(1.3)
(0.4)
(3.1)
(0.6)
(25.5)
13.3
14.1
27.4

Realpubs
£m
(27.4)
3.7
(23.7)
(25.5)
(3.0)
(52.2)

Total
£m
95.2
0.4
0.5
4.7
(2.8)
(2.2)
(0.4)
(8.0)
(0.6)
(47.7)
39.1
26.1
65.2

Total
£m
(65.2)
4.7
(60.5)
(47.7)
(5.0)
(113.2)

Goodwill has arisen primarily due to expected operating synergies, the difference between property portfolio value and fair value-in-use and 
the proven ability of the management of Cloverleaf and Realpubs to develop businesses in their respective markets.

The fair value of properties acquired was established following a review that was carried out by qualified surveyors employed by the group. 
Properties have been revalued at their existing use value.

Under the terms of the acquisition agreements for the Cloverleaf and Realpubs acquisitions a total of £5.0m will be payable in cash to certain 
former owners who remain as employees of the Greene King group two years from the date of completion based on the estimated future profitability 
of the businesses. The cost of these payments will be recognised in the income statement as an exceptional item on a straight-line basis over 
this period. The charge recognised in the current year is £2.5m (2011: £0.3m).

18 Inventories

Raw materials and work in progress
Finished goods and goods for resale
Consumable stores

19 Trade and other receivables

Other receivables
Total non-current
Trade receivables
Other receivables
Total current 

Trade and other receivables are non-interest bearing.

2012
£m
4.2 
22.9 
2.3 
29.4 

2012
£m
 0.1 
 0.1 
57.8 
10.8
68.6

2011
£m
3.7 
18.6 
2.4 
24.7 

2011
£m
 0.1 
 0.1 
60.6 
9.0 
69.6 

Financial statements

80

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

19 Trade and other receivables continued
The ageing analysis of trade receivables is as follows:

Neither past due nor impaired
Past due but not impaired
– less than 30 days
– 30–60 days
– greater than 60 days

Trade receivables are shown net of a provision of £4.9m (2011: £5.9m).

20 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash at bank and in hand
Short term deposits
Cash and cash equivalents for balance sheet
Bank overdrafts
Cash and cash equivalents for cash flow

2012
£m
52.9 

3.1 
0.5 
1.3 
57.8

2012
£m
 33.5 
 3.3 
 36.8 
 (5.0)
 31.8 

2011
£m
55.2 

2.4 
2.2 
0.8 
60.6

2011
£m
 50.2 
 9.4 
 59.6 
 (13.2)
 46.4 

Included in the balances above is £16.0m (2011: £40.7m) held within securitised bank accounts which are only available for use by the 
securitisation entities within the group. The securitisation entities comprise Greene King Retailing Parent Limited and its subsidiaries.

Interest receivable on cash and short term deposits is linked to base rate and is received either monthly or in line with the term of the deposit.

21 Property, plant and equipment held for sale

Property, plant and equipment held for sale

2012
£m
6.2 

2011
£m
3.7 

At the current period end, property plant and equipment held for sale represents £6.2m (2011: £3.7m) of pubs that are being actively marketed 
for sale with expected completion dates within one year. The value of property plant and equipment held for sale represents the expected net 
disposal proceeds and is the value after a current year impairment charge of £1.3m (2011: £0.6m) included as an exceptional item.

22 Trade and other payables: current

Trade payables
Other payables
– other taxation and social security costs
– accruals and deferred income
– interest payable

2012
£m
93.5 

47.0 
76.9 
12.8 
230.2

2011
£m
97.7 

44.5 
73.7 
12.1 
228.0

Trade payables and other payables are non-interest bearing. Interest payable is mainly settled monthly, quarterly or semi-annually throughout 
the year, in accordance with the terms of the related financial instrument.

23 Borrowings

Bank overdrafts
Bank loans – floating rate
Securitised debt
Loan notes

Repayment
date
On demand
2016
2005 to 2036
2009 to 2011

2012

Current
£m
 5.0 
 — 
 25.7 
 — 
 30.7 

Non-current
£m
 — 
 206.6 
 1,292.7 
 — 
 1,499.3 

Total
£m
 5.0 
 206.6 
 1,318.4 
 — 
 1,530.0 

2011

Non-current
£m
 — 
 110.0 
 1,318.6 
 — 
 1,428.6 

Current
£m
 13.2 
 — 
 24.3 
 3.7 
 41.2 

Total
£m
 13.2 
 110.0 
 1,342.9 
 3.7 
 1,469.8

Bank overdrafts
Overdrafts are utilised for the day to day management of cash. The group has facilities of £25.0m (2011: £25.0m) available with interest linked 
to base rate.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

 
www.greeneking.co.uk

81

23 Borrowings continued
Bank loans – unsecured
During the prior period the group agreed a 5-year revolving credit facility, signed on 1 April 2011, of £400m, of which £206.6m (2011: £110.0m) 
was drawn down at the year end. Any amounts drawn down bear interest at a margin above LIBOR, with commitment payments on the 
undrawn portions. Interest is payable at each renewal date which vary in maturity. Although any individual draw-downs are repayable within 
twelve months of the balance sheet date, the group expects to renew this funding. Immediate renewal is available under the £400m facility 
until April 2016. Final repayment of the total drawn-down balance is due as one payment on the agreement repayment date.

Securitised debt
The group has issued various tranches of bonds totalling £1,500.0m, in connection with the securitisation of 2,035 of the group’s pubs held in 
Greene King Retailing Limited at the date of the most recent tap. The bonds are secured over the properties and their future income streams 
and were issued by Greene King Finance plc.

The group’s securitised debt consists of the following tranches:

Tranche
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
B1
B2
AB1

Nominal
value
(£m)
 150.0 
 253.6 
 115.9 
 258.9 
 269.9 
 120.9 
 99.9 
 60.0 
1,329.0

Carrying value (£m)***

2012
148.5 
250.5 
114.9 
257.3 
268.6 
119.7 
99.2 
59.7 
1,318.4

2011
148.5 
261.2 
124.6 
257.2 
273.1 
119.6 
99.2 
59.5 
1,342.9

Interest
Floating
Fixed
Floating
Fixed
Floating
Fixed/floating
Floating
Floating

Effective
interest
rate** (%)
 6.11% 
5.32%
 5.95%
5.11%
 7.65% 
6.50% 
 6.86% 
 10.37% 

Principal
 repayment
period
2031
2031
2021
2034
2033
2034
2036
2036

Expected
average life*
8.3 years
13.3 years
5.2 years
16.4 years
13.3 years
21.2 years
23.3 years
23.0 years

*  This assumes notes are held until final maturity. 

**  Includes the effect of interest rate swaps and future step-ups. 

*** Carrying value is net of related deferred finance fees. 

Repayment of nominal is made by quarterly instalments, in accordance with the repayment schedule, over the period shown above.  

Payment of interest is made on quarterly dates for all classes of bond. All of the floating rate bonds are fully hedged using interest rate swaps.

The Class A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 bonds rank pari passu in point of security and as to payment of interest and principal, and have preferential 
interest payment and repayment rights over the Class AB1 and Class B bonds. The Class B1 and B2 bonds rank pari passu in point of security, 
principal repayment and interest payment.

The Class AB1 bonds rank pari passu in point of security and as to payment of interest and principal, and have preferential interest payment 
and repayment rights over the Class B bonds.

The securitisation is governed by various covenants, warranties and events of default, many of which apply to Greene King Retailing Limited, 
a group company. These include covenants regarding the maintenance and disposal of securitised properties and restrictions on its ability to 
move cash to other group companies.

Loan notes – unsecured 
The loan notes issued during 2006 in connection with the Hardys & Hansons acquisition matured in September 2011. 

24 Financial instruments
The primary treasury objectives of the group are to identify and manage the financial risks that arise in relation to underlying business needs, 
and provide secure and competitively priced funding for the activities of the group. If appropriate, the group uses financial instruments and 
derivatives to manage these risks. 

The principal financial instruments held for the purpose of raising finance for operations are bank loans and overdraft, securitised bonds, loan 
notes, cash and short term deposits. Other financial instruments arise directly from the operations of the group, such as trade receivables, payables, 
and trade loans.

Derivative financial instruments, principally interest rate swaps, are used to manage the interest rate risks related to the group’s operations 
and financing sources. No speculative trading in derivative financial instruments is undertaken. 

The main risks from the group’s financial instruments are cash flow risk, interest rate risk, credit risk and liquidity risk. The policy for 
managing each of these risks is set out overleaf. 

Financial statements

82

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

24 Financial instruments continued
Interest rate risk 
Exposure to changes in interest rates on the group’s borrowings is reviewed with regard to the maturity profile and cash flows of the underlying 
debt. The group uses a mixture of fixed and floating interest rate debt with exposure to market interest rate fluctuations primarily arising from 
the floating rate instruments. The group operates a policy that no less than 95% of the overall interest exposure should be hedged. The group 
enters into interest rate swaps to manage the exposure. The swaps are designated as cash flow hedges at the date of contract included within 
the accounts, and tested for effectiveness every six months. 

In accordance with IFRS 7, the group has undertaken sensitivity analysis on its financial instruments which are affected by changes in interest rates 
This analysis has been prepared on the basis of a constant amount of net debt, a constant ratio of fixed to floating interest rates, and on the basis 
of the hedging instruments in place at 29 April 2012 and 1 May 2011. The analysis relates only to balances at these dates and is not representative 
of the year as a whole. The following assumptions were made: 

•	 balance sheet sensitivity to interest rates applies only to derivative financial instruments, as the carrying value of debt and deposits does 

not change as interest rates move; 

•	 gains and losses are recognised within equity or the income statement in line with the accounting policies of the group; and 

•	 cash flow hedges were assumed to be effective or ineffective on the same basis as those as at the year end. An explanation for the split 
between those hedges that were effective at the year end and those that were ineffective is detailed within the cash flow hedging note. 

Based on the group’s net position at the year end, a 1% increase or decrease in interest rates would change the group’s profit before tax by 
approximately £0.1m (2011: £0.3m) and the group’s equity by £101.9m (2011: £87.7m).  

Liquidity risk 
The group mitigates liquidity risk by managing cash generated by its operations combined with bank borrowings and long-term debt. The 
group’s objective is to maintain a balance between the continuity of funding and flexibility through the use of overdrafts and bank loans. 
The group also monitors the maturity of financial liabilities to avoid the risk of a shortage of funds. 

The standard payment terms that the company has with its suppliers is 60 days following month end (2011: 60 days following month end). 

Excess cash used in managing liquidity is placed on interest-bearing deposit with maturities fixed at no more than one month. Short-term 
flexibility is achieved through the use of short-term borrowing on the money markets. 

The table below summarises the maturity profile of the group’s financial liabilities at 29 April 2012 and 1 May 2011 based on contractual 
undiscounted payments including interest. 

Period ended 29 April 2012
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings:
– capital
– interest

Derivative financial instruments
Trade payables and accruals
Provisions in respect of financial liabilities

Period ended 1 May 2011
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings:
– capital
– interest

Derivative financial instruments
Trade payables and accruals
Provisions in respect of financial liabilities

Within 
1 year
£m

 32.8 
 84.6 
 117.4 
 9.7 
 170.4 
 1.2 
 298.7 

Within 
1 year
£m

 43.2 
 82.6 
 125.8 
 4.9 
 171.4 
 0.7 
 302.8 

1–2 years
£m

2–5 years
£m

> 5 years 
£m

Total
£m

 29.4 
 83.0 
 112.4 
 9.6 
 — 
 0.6 
 122.6 

 308.8 
 228.2 
 537.0 
 27.1 
 — 
 1.9 
 556.0 

 1,172.8 
 776.2 
 1,949.0 
 154.4 
 — 
 10.1 
 2,113.5 

 1,543.8 
 1,172.0 
 2,715.8
 200.8 
 170.4 
 13.8 
 3,100.8

1–2 years
£m

2–5 years
£m

 > 5 years 
£m

Total
£m

 27.8 
 80.7 
 108.5
 4.9 
 — 
 1.1 
 114.5 

 203.4 
 231.9 
 435.3 
 14.7 
 — 
 3.7 
 453.7 

 1,207.9 
 845.5 
 2,053.4 
 91.8 
 — 
 4.1 
 2,149.3 

 1,482.3 
 1,240.7 
 2,723.0
 116.3 
 171.4 
 9.6 
 3,020.3

Credit risk
The policy for third party trading is that all customers who wish to trade on credit terms are subject to regular credit verification procedures. 
Receivable balances are also monitored on an ongoing basis and provided against where deemed necessary to limit the exposure to bad debts 
to a non-significant level.

Other financial assets includes trade loans and cash. Credit risk is the risk of default by the counterparty to discharge their obligation and the 
maximum exposure of the group is the carrying amount of these instruments.

There is no requirement for collateral and there are no significant concentrations of credit risk within the group.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

 
 
 
 
www.greeneking.co.uk

83

24 Financial instruments continued
Cash flow hedging
At 29 April 2012 the group held 4 (2011: 1) interest rate swap contracts for a nominal value of £140m (2011: £40m), designated as a hedge of 
the cash flow interest rate risk of the £206.6m (2011: £110m) draw-down from the variable credit facility in the year. The interest rate swaps 
are held on the balance sheet as a fair value liability of £2.4m (2011: £0.3m). The cash flows occur quarterly with the group receiving a variable 
rate of interest based on LIBOR and paying a weighted average fixed rate of 1.645% (2011: 2.618%). The contract maturity dates are between 
December 2013 and May 2016.

At 29 April 2012 the group held 5 (2011: 5) interest rate swap contracts for a nominal value of £695.7m (2011: £719.6m), entered into as part of 
the securitisation and subsequent securitisation taps. A fair value net liability of £198.4m (2011: £116.0m) has been recognised on the balance 
sheet in respect of these contracts which are designated cash flow hedges against £695.7m (2011: £719.6m) of variable rate bonds, receiving a 
variable rate of interest based on LIBOR and paying a weighted average fixed rate of 5.106% (2011: 4.834%). The contract maturity dates are 
December 2034 and March 2036. The bonds and interest rate swaps have the same critical terms.

Changes in cash flow hedge fair values are recognised in the hedging reserve to the extent that the hedges are effective. 

The percentage of debt that was fixed as at the year end was 97.4% (2011: 98.0%) in line with the group’s policy of fixing at least 95% of all debt.

Interest rate risk
The following tables set out the group’s exposure to interest rate risk and the maturity profile for each class of interest-bearing financial asset 
and financial liability.

29 April 2012
Fixed rate
Securitised debt
Financial asset
Variable rate
Securitised debt
Loan notes
Bank loans
Overdraft
Financial asset
Cash and short term deposits
Interest rate swap liabilities

1 May 2011
Fixed rate
Securitised debt
Financial asset
Variable rate
Securitised debt
Loan notes
Bank loans
Overdraft
Financial asset
Cash and short term deposits
Interest rate swap liabilities

Within 
1 year
£m

2.8 
(4.2)

22.9 
— 
— 
5.0 
(2.0)
(36.8)
9.7 

Within 
1 year
£m

10.4 
(4.2)

 13.9 
3.7 
— 
13.2 
(2.0)
(59.6)
4.9 

1–2 years
£m

2–3 years
£m

3–4 years
£m

4–5 years
£m

 > 5 years 
£m

 Total 
£m

3.3 
(2.9)

25.7 
— 
— 
— 
(2.0)
— 
9.6 

3.8 
(2.5)

26.8 
— 
— 
— 
(1.9)
— 
9.5 

4.4 
(2.2)

28.0 
— 
206.6 
— 
(1.7)
— 
8.8 

5.1 
(2.0)

29.2 
— 
— 
— 
(1.7)
— 
8.8 

608.1 
(10.8)

558.3 
— 
— 
— 
(7.3)
— 
154.4 

627.5 
(24.6)

690.9 
— 
206.6 
5.0 
(16.6)
(36.8)
200.8 

1–2 years
£m

2–3 years
£m

3–4 years
£m

4–5 years
£m

 > 5 years 
£m

 Total 
£m

2.8 
(3.1)

23.0 
— 
— 
— 
(1.9)
— 
4.9 

3.3 
(2.8)

25.7 
— 
— 
— 
(1.8)
— 
4.9 

3.8 
(2.5)

26.8 
— 
— 
— 
(1.7)
— 
4.9 

4.4 
(2.3)

28.0 
— 
110.0 
— 
(1.7)
— 
4.9 

613.3 
(11.9)

587.5 
— 
— 
— 
(7.5)
— 
91.8 

638.0 
(26.8)

704.9 
3.7 
110.0 
13.2 
(16.6)
(59.6)
116.3 

The interest on variable rate financial instruments is repriced at intervals of less than one year. The interest on fixed rate financial instruments 
is fixed until the maturity of the instrument. Investments, trade and other receivables, and trade and other payables are not included above 
as they are non-interest bearing and are not subject to interest rate risk.

Fair values
Set out in the table below is a comparison of carrying amounts and fair values of all of the group’s financial instruments.

The fair values of the financial assets and liabilities are included at the amount at which the instrument could be exchanged in a current 
transaction between willing parties, other than in a forced liquidation or sale. The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate 
the fair values:

Cash and cash equivalents (comprising cash at bank and in hand and short-term deposits) – approximates to the carrying amount stated 
in the accounts. 

Financial assets – these are carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method and fair value is deemed to be the same as this.

Short-term loans and overdrafts – approximates to the carrying amount because of the short maturity of these instruments.

Long-term loans – based on quoted market prices in the case of the securitised debt; approximates to the carrying amount in the case 
of the floating rate bank loans and other variable rate borrowings.

Financial statements

84

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

24 Financial instruments continued
Fair values continued
Interest rate swaps – fair values and effective interest rates of derivatives and other borrowings have been based on quotations from 
counterparties and represent estimates of the amount the group would expect to pay or receive on termination of the agreements.

Financial liabilities
Overdraft
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
– securitised debt
– floating rate bank loans
– other variable rate borrowings
Interest rate swaps
Financial assets
Cash
Financial assets

Fair 
value
2012
£m

Carrying
value
2012
£m

Fair 
value
2011
£m

Carrying
value
2011
 £m 

 5.0 

 5.0 

 13.2 

 13.2 

 1,116.5 
 206.6 
 — 
 200.8 

 1,318.4 
 206.6 
 — 
 200.8 

 1,169.1 
 110.0 
 3.7 
 116.3 

 1,342.9 
 110.0 
 3.7 
 116.3 

 (36.8)
 (39.0)

 (36.8)
 (39.0)

 (59.6)
 (40.4)

 (59.6)
 (40.4)

Carrying values are stated net of any deferred finance fees which amounted to £14.0m (2011: £12.4m).

Hierarchical classification of financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value
IFRS 7 requires that the classification of financial instruments at fair value be determined by reference to the source of inputs used to derive 
fair value. 

The classification uses the following three-level hierarchy:

Level 1 – unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 – other techniques for which all inputs which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value are observable, either directly 
or indirectly.

Level 3 – techniques which use inputs which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value that are not based on observable market data.

At 29 April 2012
Fair value measurement at the end of the reporting period using: 

Financial liabilities
Interest rate swaps

At 1 May 2011
Fair value measurement at the end of the reporting period using:

Financial liabilities
Interest rate swaps

Total
£m

Level 1
£m

Level 2
£m

Level 3
£m

200.8

 — 

200.8

 — 

Total
£m

Level 1
£m

Level 2
£m

Level 3
£m

116.3

 — 

116.3

 — 

During the periods ending 29 April 2012 and 1 May 2011 there were no transfers between levels 1, 2, or 3 fair value measurements.

Capital risk management 
The group aims to maximise shareholder value by maintaining a strong credit rating and a core level of debt which optimises the weighted 
average cost of capital (WACC) and shareholder value.

A number of mechanisms are used to manage debt and equity levels (together referred to as capital), as appropriate in the light of economic 
and trading conditions. To maintain or adjust the capital structure, the group may adjust the dividend payment to shareholders, return capital 
to shareholders or issue new shares. No changes were made in the objectives, policies or processes during the period. 

The group monitors capital using interest cover and several other measures including fixed charged cover, the ratio of net debt to EBITDA 
and free cash flow debt service coverage. Interest cover is calculated by dividing operating profit before exceptional items by net finance costs 
before exceptional items (note 7). For the period to 29 April 2012 interest cover was 2.7x (2011: 2.7x). 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

25 Provisions

As at 2 May 2010
Reclassification from trade and other payables
Unwinding of discount element of provisions
Utilised during the period
At 1 May 2011
Reclassification from trade and other payables
Unwinding of discount element of provisions
Provided for during the period
Utilised during the period
At 29 April 2012

Provisions have been analysed between current and non-current as follows:

Current
Non-current

www.greeneking.co.uk

85

Property 
leases
£m
— 
7.8 
0.4 
(1.1)
7.1 
1.2 
0.4 
1.8 
(1.5)
9.0 

1 May
2011 
£m
0.7 
6.4 
7.1

29 April
2012 
£m
1.2 
7.8 
9.0

The provision for property leases has been set up to cover operating costs of vacant or loss making premises. The provision covers the 
expected shortfall between operating income and rents payable. Payments are expected to be ongoing on these properties for an average 
of 15 years.

26 Share capital

Called up, allotted and fully paid
At beginning of period
Issue of share capital – share options exercised
At end of period

Details of options granted and outstanding are included in note 8.

2012

2011

Number of
issued 
shares
m

Share
capital
£m

Number of
issued 
shares
m

217.0 
0.5 
217.5 

27.1 
0.1 
27.2 

216.4 
0.6 
217.0 

Share
capital
£m

27.1 
— 
27.1 

27 Reserves
Share premium account 
Share premium represents the excess of proceeds received over the nominal value of new shares issued. 

Capital redemption reserve  
Capital redemption reserve arose from the purchase and cancellation of own share capital, and represents the nominal amount of the share 
capital cancelled. 

Hedging reserve 
Hedging reserve adjustments arise from the movement in fair value of the group’s derivative instruments used as an effective hedge, in line 
with the accounting policy disclosed in note 1. Amounts recycled to income are included within finance costs in the income statement. 

Financial statements

86

Financial statements

notes to tHe accounts contInued

27 Reserves continued
Own shares 
Own shares relates to shares held in treasury, held by the employee benefit trust or purchased to fulfil awards made under the deferred share 
bonus scheme. At 29 April 2012 1.0m shares (2011: 1.0m) were held in treasury, 1.1m shares (2011: 1.1m) were held by the employee benefit 
trust and 0.1m (2011: nil) were held to fulfil awards under the deferred share bonus scheme. The market value at 29 April 2012 of the treasury 
shares was £5.0m (2011: £4.8m), of the shares held by the employee benefit trust was £5.6m (2011: £5.4m) and of the shares held for the 
deferred share bonus scheme was £0.6m (2011: £nil).

The employee benefit trust is independently managed and has purchased shares in order to satisfy outstanding employee share options and 
potential awards under the long term incentive plan.

At the year end 0.8m (2011: 0.8m) treasury shares and 0.2m (2011: 0.5m) shares in the employee benefit trust were allocated to meet awards 
under the long-term incentive plan.

A transfer of £nil (2011: £0.1m) from own shares to retained earnings has been made to reflect transfers to satisfy awards under the long-term 
incentive plan and options exercised under the executive share option plan and reflects the weighted average cost of own shares.

During the period 0.1m shares were repurchased at a cost of £0.6m to fulfil awards made under the deferred share bonus scheme and no 
shares were repurchased by the employee benefit trust (2011: 0.6m). No (2011: nil) shares were transferred to satisfy awards under the 
long-term incentive plan and options exercised under the executive share option scheme.

Goodwill
The cumulative amount of goodwill written off to retained earnings in respect of acquisitions made prior to May 1998 amounts to £89.7m.

28 Working capital and non-cash movements

Increase in inventories
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables
Future consideration on acquisition
Reclassification of provisions
Increase in provisions
Share-based payment expense
Difference between defined benefit pension contributions paid and amounts charged
Exceptional items
Working capital and non-cash movements

29 Analysis of and movements in net debt

Cash in hand, at bank
Short term deposits*
Overdrafts
Current portion of borrowings
Non-current portion of borrowings
Closing net debt

*  Included in cash on the balance sheet.

Movement in net debt
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Proceeds – advances of loans
Repayment of principal – securitised debt
Repayment of principal – loans and loan notes
Decrease in net debt arising from cash flows
Other non-cash movements
Decrease in net debt
Opening net debt
Closing net debt

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

2012
£m
(4.3)
6.4 
(3.8)
— 
1.2 
0.3 
3.9 
(9.0)
(4.7)
(10.0)

2011
£m
(2.8)
(6.6)
18.6 
(5.0)
6.7 
— 
3.0 
(8.4)
(3.0)
2.5 

2012
£m
33.5 
3.3 
(5.0)
(25.7)
(1,499.3)
(1,493.2)

2012
£m
 (14.6)
 (96.6)
 26.3 
 3.9 
 (81.0)
 (2.0)
 (83.0)
 (1,410.2)
 (1,493.2)

2011
£m
50.2 
9.4 
(13.2)
(28.0)
(1,428.6)
(1,410.2)

2011
£m
 18.5 
 (110.0)
 24.9 
 6.4 
 (60.2)
 (1.9)
 (62.1)
 (1,348.1)
 (1,410.2)

www.greeneking.co.uk

87

30 Financial commitments
The group has entered into commercial leases on certain properties and items of plant and machinery. The terms of the leases vary but 
typically on inception a property lease will be for a period of up to 30 years and plant and machinery will be for less than five years. Most 
property leases have an upwards-only rent review based on open market rents at the time of the review.

Future minimum rentals payable under non-cancellable operating leases:

Within one year
Between one and five years
After five years

2012
£m
13.5 
46.1 
148.5 
208.1

2011
£m
11.4 
38.9 
142.6 
192.9

The group leases its licensed estate and other non-licensed properties to tenants. The majority of lease agreements have terms of between 
6 months and 25 years and are classified for accounting purposes as operating leases. Most of the leases with terms of over three years include 
provision for rent reviews on either a three year or five year basis. 

Future minimum lease rentals receivable under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows: 

Within one year
Between one and five years
After five years

2012
£m
39.3 
73.7 
72.3 
185.3

2011
£m
43.8 
85.7 
85.5 
215.0

31 Related party transactions
No transactions have been entered into with related parties during the period. 

Greene King Finance plc is a special purpose entity set up to raise bond finance for the group, and as such is deemed a related party. 
The results of the entity have been consolidated. 

Compensation of directors and other key management personnel of the group

Short term employee benefits (including national insurance contributions)
Post-employment pension and medical benefits
Share-based payments

2012
£m
4.1 
0.5 
1.2 
5.8

2011
£m
3.9 
0.5 
0.6 
5.0

Directors’ interests in an employee share incentive plan
Details of the options held by executive members of the board of directors are included in the remuneration report. No options have been 
granted to the non-executive members of the board of directors under this scheme. 

32 Post balance sheet events
Final dividend
A final dividend of 18.1p per share (2011: 16.8p) amounting to a dividend of £39.0m (2011: £36.1m) was proposed by the directors at their 
meeting on 27 June 2012. These financial statements do not reflect the dividend payable. 

33 Contingent liabilities
The group has provided guarantees totalling £4.0m at 29 April 2012 (2011: £4.4m) in respect of free trade customers’ bank borrowings.

In a previous period the group received a refund of £7m from HMRC in respect of VAT on gaming machines following a ruling that the 
application of VAT to certain gaming machines contravened the European Union’s principle of fiscal neutrality. HMRC has appealed against 
the ruling and the case was referred back to the UK’s Upper Tribunal for hearing on 14 June 2012. If HMRC’s appeal is upheld the refund of 
£7m and associated interest of £1m would become repayable.

Financial statements

88

Financial statements

coMpany accounts

89 Independent auditor’s report (company)
90 Company balance sheet 
91 Notes to the company accounts

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

89

Independent audItor’s report (coMpany)
to tHe MeMBers oF greene KIng pLc

We have audited the parent company financial statements of Greene King plc for the 52 weeks ended 29 April 2012 which comprise the 
parent company balance sheet and the related notes 34 to 44. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation 
is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. 
Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them 
in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone 
other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditor
As explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 50, the directors are responsible for the preparation 
of the parent company financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and 
express an opinion on the parent company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing 
(UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements
An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance 
that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether 
the accounting policies are appropriate to the parent company’s circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; 
the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the directors; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. In addition, 
we read all the financial and non-financial information in the annual report to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial 
statements. If we become aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

Opinion on financial statements
In our opinion the parent company financial statements:

•	 give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s affairs as at 29 April 2012;

•	 have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

•	 have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion:

•	 the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006; and

•	 the information given in the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the 

parent company financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

•	 adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from 

branches not visited by us; or

•	 the parent company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited are not in agreement with the 

accounting records and returns; or

•	 certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

•	 we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Other matter
We have reported separately on the group financial statements of Greene King plc for the 52 weeks ended 29 April 2012.

Bob Forsyth (Senior statutory auditor)
for and on behalf of Ernst & Young LLP, Statutory Auditor
Cambridge
27 June 2012

Notes:
1. 

 The maintenance and integrity of the Greene King plc website is the responsibility of the directors; the work carried out by the auditor does not involve consideration 
of these matters and, accordingly, the auditor accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the financial statements since they were initially 
presented on the website.

2. 

 Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Financial statements

As at
29 April 
2012
 £m 

As at
1 May 
2011
 £m 

Note

38

2,549.0

2,472.9

39

41

40

41
41

42
43
43
43
43
43
43

—
—
2.8

0.8
0.1
6.9

(0.9)
(1.0)
(1,716.8)
(1,715.9)
833.1

(206.6)
(1.5)
625.0

27.2
251.3
2.5
(2.4)
93.9
(9.6)
262.1
625.0

(0.1)
(7.8)
(1,698.8)
(1,698.9)
774.0

(110.0)
(0.2)
663.8

27.1
249.8
2.5
(0.2)
93.9
(9.0)
299.7
663.8

90

Financial statements

coMpany BaLance sHeet
as at 29 aprIL 2012
Registered number: 24511

Fixed assets
Investments
Current assets
Debtors
Deferred tax
Cash
Creditors: due within one year
Derivative financial instruments
Income tax payable
Other creditors
Net current liabilities
Total assets less current liabilities
Creditors: due after more than one year
Medium and long term debt
Derivative financial instruments
Net assets
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital
Share premium account
Revaluation reserve
Hedging reserve
Other reserve
Own shares
Profit and loss account
Shareholders’ funds

Signed on behalf of the board on 27 June 2012.

T J W Bridge 
Director 

R Anand
Director

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

91

notes to tHe coMpany accounts

34 Accounting policies
Basis of accounting and presentation
The accounts are prepared on a going concern basis, in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and applicable accounting and financial 
reporting standards in the United Kingdom (UK GAAP). They are prepared under the historical cost convention with the exception of 
derivatives, where the company uses interest rate swaps to hedge its exposure to interest rate fluctuations on its variable rate borrowings.

Changes in accounting policy
The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the previous financial year.

Investments
Investments in subsidiaries are recorded at cost less impairment and held as fixed assets on the balance sheet. The carrying value of 
investments is reviewed for impairment if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable.

Deferred tax
Deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date where 
transactions or events have occurred at that date that will result in an obligation to pay more, or a right to pay less or to receive more tax, 
with the following exceptions:

•	

 provision is made for tax on gains arising from the revaluation (and similar fair value adjustments) of fixed assets, and gains on disposal of 
fixed assets that have rolled over into replacement assets, only to the extent that, at the balance sheet date, there is a binding agreement to 
dispose of the assets concerned. However, no provision is made where, on the basis of all available evidence at the balance sheet date, it is 
more likely than not that the taxable gain will be rolled over into replacement assets and charged to tax only where the replacement assets 
are sold; and 

•	

 deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent that the directors consider that it is more likely than not that there will be suitable 
taxable profits from which the future reversal of the underlying timing difference can be deducted.

Deferred tax is measured on an undiscounted basis at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the periods in which timing differences 
reverse, based on tax rates and laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.

Financial instruments
Financial instruments are recognised when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument and are de-recognised 
when the company no longer controls the contractual rights that comprise the financial instrument, normally through sale or when all cash 
flows attributable to the instrument are passed to an independent third party.

The company is exempt, in accordance with FRS 29.2D, from producing disclosure required by the standard as the group accounts contain 
disclosure that complies with FRS 29 (IFRS 7). 

Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
All loans and borrowings are initially recognised at fair value of the consideration received, net of issue costs. After initial recognition, 
interest-bearing loans and borrowings are measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting
The company uses interest rate swaps to hedge its exposure to interest rate fluctuations on its variable rate borrowings.

Interest rate swaps are initially measured at fair value, if any, and carried on the balance sheet as an asset or liability. Subsequent 
measurement is at fair value determined by reference to market values for similar instruments. If a derivative does not qualify for hedge 
accounting the gain or loss arising on the movement in fair value is recognised in the profit and loss account.

Hedge accounting
To qualify for hedge accounting the hedge relationship must be designated and documented at inception. Documentation must include the 
company’s risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge and formal allocation to the item or transaction being hedged. 
The company also documents how it will assess the effectiveness of the hedge and carries out assessments on a regular basis to determine 
whether it has been, and is likely to continue to be, highly effective.

Hedges can be classified as either fair value (hedging exposure to changes in fair value of an asset or liability) or cash flow (hedging the variability 
in cash flows attributable to an asset, liability, or forecast transaction). The company uses its interest rate swaps as cash flow hedges.

For these cash flow hedges, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the hedging instrument is recognised directly in equity, while the 
ineffective portion is recognised in the profit and loss account. Amounts taken to equity are transferred to the profit and loss account when 
the hedged transaction affects profit or loss.

If a forecast transaction is no longer expected to occur, amounts previously recognised in equity are transferred to profit or loss. If the 
hedging instrument expires or is sold, terminated or exercised without replacement or rollover, or if its designation as a hedge is revoked, 
amounts previously recognised in equity remain in equity until the forecast transaction occurs and are then transferred to the profit and 
loss account as above. If the related transaction is not expected to occur, the amount is taken to profit and loss.

Financial statements

92

Financial statements

notes to tHe coMpany accounts contInued

34 Accounting policies continued
Own shares
Own shares consist of treasury shares and shares held within an employee benefit trust. The company has an employee benefit trust for the 
granting of shares to applicable employees.

Own shares are recognised at cost as a deduction from equity shareholders’ funds. Subsequent consideration received for the sale of such 
shares is also recognised in equity, with any difference between the sale proceeds and the original cost being taken to revenue reserves. 
No gain or loss is recognised in the performance statements on transactions in treasury shares.

Share-based payments
Certain employees and directors of subsidiary companies receive equity-settled remuneration, whereby they render services in exchange for 
shares or rights over shares. The fair value of the shares and options granted is measured using a Black-Scholes model, at the date at which they 
were granted. No account is taken in the fair value calculation of any vesting conditions (service and performance), other than market conditions 
(performance linked to the price of the shares of the company). Any other conditions that are required to be met in order for an employee 
to become fully entitled to an award are considered non-vesting conditions. Like market performance, non-vesting conditions are taken into 
account in determining the grant date fair value. The fair value of shares and options granted is recognised as an increase in the company’s 
investments in its subsidiaries with a corresponding increase in equity spread over the period in which the performance conditions are fulfilled 
ending on the relevant vesting date. The cumulative amount recognised as an investment reflects the extent to which the vesting period has 
expired, adjusted for the estimated number of shares and options that are ultimately expected to vest.

In accordance with the exemption within FRS 20 no amount is recorded in respect of grants made under the above schemes prior to 
7 November 2002 which had not vested by the date of implementation of FRS 20.

Related party transactions
In accordance with FRS 8 Related Party Disclosures the company is not required to disclose transactions with its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

35 Profit for the period
No profit or loss account is presented for the company as permitted by s408 of the Companies Act 2006. The profit after tax for the period 
is £9.1m (2011: £20.3m).

36 Auditor’s remuneration
Auditor’s remuneration in respect of the company audit was £15,760 (2011: £15,375).

37 Directors’ remuneration and employee costs
Details of directors’ remuneration is contained in the directors’ remuneration report on pages 45 to 47. The company has no employees other 
than directors and the directors are not remunerated through this company. Details of share options issued by the company are given in note 
8 to the group accounts.

The directors do not believe that it is practicable to apportion these amounts between their services as directors of the company and their 
services as directors of other group companies.

38 Investments

Cost and net book value at 1 May 2011
Share-based payment awards to employees of subsidiaries
Investment in subsidiaries
Cost and net book value at 29 April 2012

During the period the company acquired The Capital Pub Company Limited for consideration of £72.2m.

Investments
 in
subsidiaries
£m
1,494.7 
3.9 
72.2 
1,570.8 

Loans 
to
subsidiaries
£m
978.2 
— 
— 
978.2 

Total
£m
2,472.9 
3.9 
72.2 
2,549.0 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

93

Held by
Subsidiary
Parent
Parent
Parent
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Subsidiary
Parent
Subsidiary

 Holding 
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

2012
£m
0.1 
(0.1) 
—

2011
£m
— 
0.1 
0.1 

2012
£m
2.0 
1,714.8 
1,716.8 

2011
£m
2.8 
1,696.0 
1,698.8 

38 Investments continued

Principal subsidiaries
Greene King Brewing and Retailing Limited
Greene King Retailing Parent Limited
Greene King Pubs Limited
Greene King Investments Limited
Greene King Retailing Limited
Greene King Services Limited
Greene King Retail Services Limited
Greene King Properties Limited
Hardys & Hansons Limited
Belhaven Brewery Company Limited
Belhaven Pubs Limited
Cloverleaf Restaurants Limited
Loch Fyne Restaurants Limited
The Capital Pub Company Limited
Belhaven Group Properties Limited

The country of incorporation for all companies is the United Kingdom.

39 Deferred tax

Deferred tax asset at 1 May 2011
Tax on net loss on revaluation of cash flow hedges charged through equity
Deferred tax asset at 29 April 2012

 Principal 
 activity 
 Brewing and retailing 
 Holding company 
 Holding company 
 Holding company 
 Pub retailing 
 Employment 
 Employment 
 Property
 Employment 
 Employment 
Employment
 Employment 
 Retailing 
 Holding company 
 Property 

40 Other creditors

Accruals and deferred income
Amounts owed to subsidiaries

41 Borrowings

Bank loans – floating rate

Within
one year
£m
— 

2012

After
one year
£m
(206.6)

Total
£m
(206.6)

Within
one year
£m
— 

2011

After
one year
£m
 (110.0)

Total
£m
(110.0)

At 29 April 2012, the company held 4 (2011: 1) interest rate swap contracts to hedge cash flow interest rate risk related to floating rate debt. 
The swaps had nominal value of £140m (2011: £40m) and are held on the balance sheet as a net fair value liability of £2.4m (2011: £0.3m). 
The details of terms and interest rates are included as part of the group’s portfolio in note 24.

Financial statements

94

Financial statements

notes to tHe coMpany accounts contInued

41 Borrowings continued
Bank loans due after one year are repayable as follows:

Due between one and two years
Due between two and five years
Due after more than five years

2012
£m
 — 
(206.6)
 — 
(206.6)

2011
£m
 — 
(110.0)
 — 
 (110.0)

Although the draw-down is repayable within twelve months of the balance sheet date, immediate renewal is available until April 2016 
(2011: April 2016) for the facility.

42 Allotted and issued share capital

Allotted, called-up and fully paid
Ordinary shares of 12.5p each
217.5m shares (2011: 217.0m)

Further information on share capital is given in note 26 of the group accounts.

43 Reconciliation of shareholders’ funds

At 2 May 2010
Cash flow hedges – loss taken to equity
Tax on cash flow hedges
Issue of share capital
Release of shares (note 27)
Repurchase of shares
Share-based payment credit in respect 
of subsidiaries
Profit for the period
Dividends
At 1 May 2011
Cash flow hedges – loss taken to equity
Tax on cash flow hedges
Issue of share capital
Repurchase of shares
Share-based payment credit in respect 
of subsidiaries
Profit for the period
Dividends
At 29 April 2012

Share
capital
£m
27.1 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 

— 
— 
— 
27.1 
— 
— 
0.1 
— 

— 
— 
— 
27.2 

Share
premium
£m
247.6 
— 
— 
2.2 
— 
— 

Revaluation
reserve
£m
2.5 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 

Hedging
reserve
£m
— 
(0.3)
0.1 
— 
— 
— 

— 
— 
— 
249.8 
— 
— 
1.5 
— 

— 
— 
— 
251.3 

— 
— 
— 
2.5 
— 
— 
— 
— 

— 
— 
— 
2.5 

— 
— 
— 
(0.2)
(2.1)
(0.1) 
— 
— 

— 
— 
— 
(2.4)

Other
reserve
£m
93.9 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 

— 
— 
— 
93.9 
— 
— 
— 
— 

— 
— 
— 
93.9 

2012
£m

2011
£m

27.2 

27.1 

Own
shares
£m
(6.6)
— 
— 
— 
0.2 
(2.6)

— 
— 
— 
(9.0)
— 
— 
— 
(0.6)

— 
— 
— 
(9.6)

Profit
and loss
account
£m
323.6 
— 
— 
— 
(0.1)
— 

3.0 
20.3 
(47.1)
299.7 
— 
— 
— 
— 

3.9 
9.1 
(50.6)
262.1 

Total
£m
688.1 
(0.3)
0.1 
2.2 
0.1 
(2.6)

3.0 
20.3 
(47.1)
663.8 
(2.1)
(0.1) 
1.6 
(0.6)

3.9 
9.1 
(50.6)
625.0 

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

95

43 Reconciliation of shareholders’ funds continued
Share premium account
Share premium represents the excess of proceeds received over the nominal value of new shares issued.

Other reserve
The other reserve consists of £3.3m (2011: £3.3m) capital redemption reserve arising from the purchase of own share capital and £90.6m 
(2011: £90.6m) arising from transfer of revalued assets to other group companies and will only be realised when the related assets are 
disposed of by the group.

Hedging reserve
Hedging reserve adjustments arise from the movement in fair value of the company’s derivative instruments used as an effective hedge, in line 
with the accounting policy disclosed in note 34.

Own shares
Own shares relates to shares held in treasury and by the employee benefit trust. Movement in own shares is described in note 27 to the 
group accounts.

44 Contingent liabilities
In a previous period the company received a refund of £6.1m from HMRC in respect of VAT on gaming machines following a ruling that the 
application of VAT to certain gaming machines contravened the European Union’s principle of fiscal neutrality. HMRC has appealed against 
the ruling and the case was referred back to the UK’s Upper Tribunal for hearing on 14 June 2012. If HMRC’s appeal is upheld the refund of 
£6.1m and associated interest of £0.9m would become repayable.

Financial statements

96

Financial statements

group FInancIaL record

Income statement
Revenue
Operating profit before exceptionals
Profit before taxation and exceptionals
Profit before taxation
Basic earnings per share 1
Adjusted basic earnings per share 1
Adjusted dividend per share 1
Adjusted operating profit/revenue
Adjusted tax expense/profit before tax
Adjusted interest cover (times)
Adjusted dividend cover (times)

1  All relevant years adjusted for the bonus element of the 2009 rights issue.

Balance sheet
Property, plant and equipment
Goodwill
Financial assets
Property, plant and equipment held for sale
Working capital
Derivatives
Provisions
Net debt
Net assets 
Gearing 

Cash flow and investment
EBITDA before exceptionals
Cash inflow from operations
Interest, tax and dividends
Capital expenditure
Proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment
Trade loans and investments
Acquisitions
Other
(Increase)/decrease in debt

2012 
(52 weeks)
 £m
 1,140.4 
 236.2 
 152.0 
 125.1 
47.6p
53.0p
24.8p
20.7%
25.0%
 2.7 
 2.1 

 £m 
 2,191.3 
 729.3 
 39.0 
 6.2 
 (168.6)
 (200.8)
 (157.9)
 (1,493.2)
 945.3 
158%

 £m 
 292.0 
282.0
 (167.1)
 (126.8)
 29.9 
 2.2 
 (70.8)
 (32.4)
 (83.0)

2011  
(52 weeks)
£m
 1,042.7 
 222.0 
 140.0 
 116.8 
49.7p
48.2p
23.1p
21.3%
26.0%
 2.7 
 2.1 

 £m 
 2,094.9 
 705.8 
 40.4 
 3.7 
 (164.5)
 (116.3)
 (172.9)
 (1,410.2)
 980.9 
144%

 £m 
 276.6 
279.2
 (163.5)
 (96.2)
 27.8 
 1.5 
 (60.5)
 (50.4)
 (62.1)

2010 
(52 weeks)
 £m
 984.1 
 211.3 
 123.0 
 101.9 
37.8p
43.4p
21.5p
21.5%
25.5%
 2.4 
 2.0 

 £m 
 2,012.7 
 679.7 
 41.8 
 — 
 (152.5)
 (108.8)
 (211.9)
 (1,348.1)
 912.9 
148%

 £m 
 264.4 
276.3
 (157.6)
 (76.0)
 27.2 
 (1.2)
 (61.6)
 203.4 
 210.5 

2009  
(52 weeks)
£m
 954.6 
 216.2 
 118.5 
 54.3 
29.5p
53.4p
21.0p
22.6%
25.0%
 2.2 
 2.5 

2008  
(53 weeks)
£m
 960.5 
 236.2 
 142.0 
 147.9 
89.9p
59.4p
20.9p
24.6%
28.0%
 2.5 
 2.8 

 £m 
 1,997.3 
 673.8 
 40.3 
 — 
 (143.5)
 (144.5)
 (221.4)
 (1,558.6)
 643.4 
242%

 £m 
 2,057.9 
 673.8 
 34.8 
 — 
 (150.2)
 (5.5)
 (256.6)
 (1,605.5)
 748.7 
214%

 £m 
 267.3 
260.9
 (154.3)
 (95.5)
 44.2 
 (6.0)
 — 
 (2.4)
 46.9 

 £m 
 283.3 
276.0
 (145.7)
 (98.3)
 41.4 
 (0.4)
 (82.6)
 (160.4)
 (170.0)

Adjusted earnings per share, operating profit, taxation, interest cover and dividend cover exclude the effect of exceptional items.

 Greene King plc Annual report 2012

www.greeneking.co.uk

Company secretary and registered office
Lindsay Keswick 
Westgate Brewery, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1QT

Telephone: 01284 763 222 
Fax: 01284 706 502 
Website: www.greeneking.co.uk 

Share dealing services
Stocktrade
Telephone: 0845 601 0995 

Redmayne Bentley
Moseley’s Farm Offices, Fornham All Saints, Bury St Edmunds 
Suffolk IP28 6JY

Telephone: 01284 723 761

Capita Share Dealing Services
Telephone: 0871 664 0454* 
Website: www.capitadeal.com

* 

 Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras; lines are open 8.00am to 4.30pm, 
Monday to Friday.

Killik & Co
Telephone: 020 7337 0716 
Email: nominee@killik.com

Capital gains tax
For the purpose of computing capital gains tax, the market value 
of the ordinary shares on 31 March 1982, after adjustment for the 
capitalisation issues in 1980 and 1982 was 72.5625 pence. After 
take-up of the rights issue in July 1996, the March 1982 value 
becomes 129.6875 pence. With the take-up of the rights issue in 
May 2009, the March 1982 value becomes 182.3046875p pence.

CorporAte ADvisers
Financial advisers
Lazard & Co. Limited
50 Stratton Street, London W1J 8LL

Stockbrokers
Deutsche Bank AG London
Winchester House, 1 Great Winchester Street, London EC2N 3EQ

Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
One Cambridge Business Park, Cambridge CB4 0WZ

Solicitors
Linklaters 
One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ

shAreholDer informAtion

Financial calendar
Ex-dividend date 
Record date for final dividend 
AGM 
Payment of final dividend 
Announcement of interim results 
Payment of interim dividend 
Preliminary announcement of the 2012/13 results  July 2013

8 August 2012
10 August 2012
4 September 2012
10 September 2012
December 2012
January 2013

Registrars
Capita Registrars
The Registry, 34 Beckenham Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TU

Telephone: 0871 664 0300* 
Fax: 01484 601512 
E-mail: ssd@capitaregistrars.com 
Website: www.capitaregistrars.com 

* 

 Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras; lines are open 8.30am to 5.30pm, 
Monday to Friday.

E-communications
Greene King plc has teamed up with Climate Care to help combat 
climate change by providing shareholders with the opportunity 
to receive communications from the company electronically. The 
company will donate £1 to Climate Care for every shareholder that 
registers. Climate Care funds projects that reduce greenhouse gases 
– the main cause of climate change. 

To register, visit www.greeneking-shares.com and either log 
in or click on “Register new user” and follow the instructions.

By registering your e-mail address you will receive e-mails with a 
web link to information posted on the company’s website, including 
the report and accounts, notice of meetings and other information 
communicated to shareholders.

Indirect investors’ information rights
Beneficial owners of shares held on their behalf by a different 
registered holder now have certain information rights regarding 
Greene King. They have the right to ask their registered holder 
to nominate them to receive all non-personalised information 
distributed to shareholders, in accordance with the provisions 
of section 146 of the Companies Act 2006. 

Should you wish to be nominated to receive information from 
Greene King directly, please contact your registered holder, who 
will need to notify our registrars, Capita Registrars, accordingly. 
Please note that, once nominated, beneficial owners of shares must 
continue to direct all communications regarding those shares to the 
registered holder of those shares rather than to the registrars or to 
Greene King directly. 

Elemental Chlorine Free

Greene King’s commitment to environmental issues is reflected in this 
annual report which has been printed on Revive 75 White Silk, a recycled 
paper stock which contains 75% recovered fibre and 25% virgin wood 
, 
fibre. This document was printed by Pureprint Group using 
their environmental print technology, which minimises the impact 
of printing on the environment. Vegetable based inks have been 
used and 99% of dry waste is diverted from landfill. The printer 
is a CarbonNeutral® company. Both the printer and the paper mill 
are registered to ISO 14001.

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Greene King plc
Registered in England No. 24511

Registered Office 
Westgate Brewery 
Bury St Edmunds 
Suffolk 
IP33 1QT

Telephone: 01284 763222 
www.greeneking.co.uk

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