Profits at brewery Shepherd Neame grew by more than a fifth in the second half of last year despite slowing sales growth and a major contract coming to an end.

The Faversham-based beer and pub company upped its bottom line profits by 22.7% to £5m, having stood at £4.1m in the same period a year earlier and £4.5m in 2012.

Turnover increased 1.5% to £73.5m, slowing down from the 4.7% growth a year earlier.

The company sold 146,000 barrels of beer – roughly 42 million pints – helped by a warm September and strong Christmas trade.

However, this was below the 151,000 barrels sold a year earlier – about 43.5 million pints – caused mainly by a 3.7% decline in beer volumes after its contract to make Kingfisher lager came to an end in December.

The number of countries it exports to has grown from about 20 to more than 35, including Sweden, Italy, Ireland, the United States and Canada.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent payable (EBITDA) were £10.6m, up 4%, while the company invested £5.2m in the business including buying two pubs in Surrey and West Berkshire for £1.8m.

Its largest growing revenue stream was in accommodation, up 14.5%, having bought half a dozen hotels in the county in recent years, including the recent revamp of the Botany Bay Hotel in Broadstairs.

A key focus this year is redeveloping its Royal Wells Hotel in Tunbridge Wells at a cost of £2.4 million, its largest ever investment in a single site. It due to reopen in May.

Sales at the 50 pubs it manages were up 6.8%, while its 297 tenanted drinking holes saw EBITDA rise by 3.4%.

Chief executive Jonathan Neame said: “I am pleased to report strong trading across the business, particularly in our inns and hotels, and good like-for-like performance in the tenanted estate.

“We are pursuing a consistent long-term strategy to build the quality of our pub portfolio and brand assets.”

Shepherd Neame employs about 1,200 people.