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London - Strong Christmas period trading helped Britain's Spirit Pub Company report a 7% rise in like-for-like sales at its managed pubs for the three weeks to 4January.
The company said it expected like-for-like sales in the business to rise about 3.3% this year and anticipated modest growth in its leased business.
"We expect Spirit to trade well over the next seven months helped by favourable weather comparatives in January and March and the football World Cup in June and July," Panmure Gordon analyst Simon French said in a note.
Numis analyst Douglas Jack raised his price target on the company's stock to 110 pence from 100 pence.
Consumer spending
Spirit Pub's shares, which rose as much as 2% in morning trading, were flat at 84.25 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday lunch time.
The company operates about 800 managed pubs and about 470 leased pubs under brands such as Chef & Brewer, Fayre & Square and Flaming Grill.
The company has outperformed its rivals in like-for-like sales growth over the past six months, according to data collected from 27 of Britain's larger pubs by market research company Coffer Peach Business Tracker.
Spirit Pub, which was spun off from Punch Taverns in 2011, said it did not expect discretionary consumer spending to rise in the next six months.
"Maybe after that, business confidence will flow through into consumer confidence but it will take time," said chief executive Mike Tye.
