DORSET brewery Hall & Woodhouse says it is “well placed to recover quickly” after revealing a pre-tax loss of £10.5million for the year of Covid.

The business suffered a “dramatic” impact from its pubs being closed or heavily restricted for much of 2020.

Its pre-tax loss of £10.5m on ongoing operations in the financial year ending January 31, 2021 came after a £6.9m profit in 2020.

In his annual report, chairman Anthony Woodhouse said: “H&W can add the last 14 months and the coronavirus pandemic to the list of major upheavals that it has had to weather over its 244 year history.

“Your company is not only surviving but indeed is well placed to recover quickly and get back to growth as the hospitality industry is allowed to reopen.”

Although the company was hit hard by lockdowns, he said the crisis had boosted demand for the company’s Badger bottled beers and its Rio soft drinks.

“Not only has the market grown due to increased drinking at home with the ontrade being closed, but Badger has gained significant market share in addition,” he said.

He also said the company had an “excellent pipeline of pub acquisitions which will help fuel our recovery” but would “err on the side of prudence” until the pandemic was behind it.

In a press statement, Mr Woodhouse said the company had limited its operating cash loss after interest and tax to £4.5m. He said the business was strong because it had been built over “many generations” with limited borrowing.

He praised the “fabulous work” done under managing director Matt Kearsey “in getting us into battle formation and then back open safely a number of times”.

He added: “We are very grateful for the support that our industry has received from HM Government. It is worth noting, however, that even after netting off monies received, H&W was still a significant net contributor to HMRC.

“Since reopening post year end, the managed pubs with the exception of those in London, have traded strongly albeit hampered in some locations by seasonal team shortages and supply issues.

“The business partnerships pubs reopened without a single vacancy, reflecting the market-leading support that Hall & Woodhouse provided during the pandemic.”

Over the past 18 months, the company had secured or agreed terms on three new managed pubs and seven business partnership sites, he said. “These have been funded in part by the disposal of a number of smaller business partnership sites that did not fit its long-term strategy,” he added.

Managing director Matt Kearsey said: “Throughout our history, we have managed the business prudently so that we can ride out challenging times, and also take advantage of the market opportunities that inevitably arise from disruption. The site purchases we are making are high quality and rarely come on to the market.”