WARM weather and the World Cup helped Shepherd Neame score fizzing profits for the 31st year in a row.

Despite tough competition, the 300-year old Faversham brewer and pub operator hiked pre-tax profits by nearly 14 per cent to £11.2m on turnover up 4.4 per cent to £95.3m in year ending July 1, 2006.

Beer sales grew by seven per cent, with wine up 15.6 per cent.

Jonathan Neame, the chief executive, said business had been boosted by good weather and the FIFA World Cup, with its Spitfire ale doing particularly well.

"Spitfire now has very high awareness amongst beer drinkers, particularly in London and the South," he said. "We have also supported Bishops Finger with advertising in specialist sports and lifestyle magazines to attract younger male consumers."

Sales had also been given a boost by its Japanese brand Asahi Super Dry which it began brewing last year.

Mr Neame revealed that longer trading hours had cost the company £243,000 in licensing costs for only "marginal benefit, mainly at weekends."

Next year’s smoking ban in English pubs will offer Sheps a chance to exploit areas outside buildings. "We have individual strategies in place to develop the outside space in our pubs. Over 90 per cent of our pubs have gardens or patios and we plan to invest £3m over the next two years to enhance these facilities. We aim to provide an interesting and high quality environment for all of our customers, whether smokers or non-smokers. "

Mr Neame added: "The beer and pubs market will always bring fresh challenges and in the coming year we face considerable inflationary cost pressure driven by the further rise in utility prices and other operational costs.

"We are confident, however, that we are taking the right steps to build a strong, successful and sustainable platform for the future."

It also revealed that the company paid £663,000 for a pension for Stuart Neame, the former deputy chairman who left in acrimonious circumstances.

The company said the total capital cost of the pension was £2.24m and added: "This payment discharged all obligations in respect of this final salary pension entitlement. Although there was a shortfall in the provision made in 2004 to cover this liability, most of this shortfall passes through reserves and does not have an impact on the result for the year."

As regional brewers continue to fold, or merge with larger businesses, Shepherd Neame believes it is in a stronger position to exploit demand for specialist beers. It also expects to capitalise in economic growth in Kent and the South East over the next few years.

Miles Templeman, the new chairman and Institute of Directors director-general who took over from Bobby Neame, now the president, after his retirement, said: "This has been a good performance with strong results in all parts of the business against last year and against expectations. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year as chairman and have been impressed by the quality and strength of the business and what is a challenging and changing market."

Meanwhile, the Faversham brewery’s water source had been awarded the status of Natural Mineral Water.

The Shepherd Neame board has recommended a final dividend of 15.95p per £1 "A" ordinary share and 0.319p per 2p "B" ordinary share giving a total dividend for the year of 20.0p for "A" shares and 0.4p for "B" shares, a 7.8 per cent increase.