Marston’s is set to reach its profit before tax expectations in its current financial year, after making "excellent progress" against its strategic priorities.

The firm, which owns an estate of more than 1,300 pubs, said that its like-for-like (LFL) sales for the 15 weeks to 12 July increased by 2.9%, delivering against a "strong prior year comparator", which included the Euro 2024 Championships.

In its 41-week trading update, Marston’s said that its LFL sales also improved on the first half of the year, increasing by 2% in the year-to-date.

It added that it is progressing ahead of schedule on its rollout of its group’s differentiated pub formats, with 26 pubs refurbished and trading under new brand formats.

Looking ahead, the firm is expecting a strong Q4 performance, which is supported by an "exciting pipeline of demand-driving events".

As a result, Marston’s expects its profit before tax to reach a full-year figure of £67.1m.

It is also set to reach a capital expenditure of £60m, following investment in estate development, digital transformation and guest experience.

Chief executive officer at Marston’s, Justin Platt, said: "We're excited about the momentum we're building throughout the business, with our performance enhanced by a strong pipeline of demand-driving events, continued growth from Order & Pay and our ongoing revenue management initiatives.

"We've made excellent progress against our strategic priorities so far this year, delivering improved margin performance, strong cash generation and the roll-out of our new pub formats.

"This momentum and our disciplined execution across the business gives us great confidence for the future, and we remain firmly on-track to deliver on full-year market expectations."

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