Pub and brewing group Marston's has announced record revenue and numbers of pints delivered along with new plans for the McEwan's brand which it acquired last year.
McEwan’s is said to be performing well in England as well as Scotland since Marston's bought the famous Scots firm from Charles Webb Beer Business for £55 million.
The Wolverhampton-headquartered beer giant, which has been increasing its presence north of the border where 1,000 of its 14,500 employees are now based over recent years, is to launch at least one new premises in Scotland in the new year.
Read more: McEwan's export owner sees rise in profits
It follows openings in Peterhead and Inverness in the last year.
The Charles Webb deal included Bombardier beer and Marston's also assumed UK distribution rights for Spanish beer Estrella Damm.
Ralph Findlay, the Scots-born Marston's chief executive, above, said it had been an "extraordinary" year for the 1600 pubs across its UK estate.
He said: "Looking back on our results for 2018, it was a strange year.
"We had a number of things affecting the business. At the start of the year we had the Beast from the East, clearly difficult.
"We then went into a very hot summer. Certainly in England we benefitted from England’s progress in the world Cup.
"Our revenue is up 15 per cent to over £1 billion for the first time, and profit before tax of £104m, so we are pretty pleased with that."
The firm reported underlying revenue of £1.14bn in preliminary results for the year to September 29, while the pre-tax profit figure of £104m was a rise of 4% on last year.
Read more: Pub giant takes £1m profits hit after snow and ice disrupts trade
He said: "We had a great year in brewing - a record year - with 330m pints delivered across the UK, which is a fantastic performance, so pretty happy to where we’ve got to.
"Looking at 2019, we will open ten new pub restaurants and five lodges in the coming year and we will also continue to build on our beer business.
"Those pubs are UK-wide, one is in Dundee and it will open sometime after Christmas."
Mr Findlay acknowledged the status of McEwan's, which was first brewed in Edinburgh's Fountain Brewery in 1856, in the market with drinks such as export and lager.
He said: "We did a brand refresh on the McEwan’s brand which is actually really positive.
"The McEwan’s brand has performed well in the English market, not just the Scottish market."
He says: "It is a well-loved brand.
"The objective is to refresh it and there’s more we can do on that score to modernise it without changing what is already there."
Read more: McEwan's is the best buy in beer for Marston's
The aim is establish how best to use the McEwan’s name "in beers which are in tune with what people want to drink today".
He says: "The trend has been towards more craft beers, more IPAs and so on, so there is potential there for branding and we will look into all of those things."
Brexit sits in the background but the firm feels well prepared.
Mr Findlay said: "For us our biggest category we import is wine and that is a product for which there are alternative markets like South Africa, the New World.
"It is a risk. It is one I think we are handling well.
"We’d quite like to know more about how it’s going to resolve itself."
He added: "Our big win next year will be getting Christmas out of the way and hopefully not having weather events disrupting trade like this year, it was quite an extraordinary year.
"We are expecting to grow the business in 2019.
"At this point Christmas is looking pretty good, our bookings are solid."
Shares closed at 101p, up 2.5%.
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