Pub operator Marston's believes it is "well positioned" to fend off the economic downturn after a 2.8 per cent increase in like-for-like sales helped to lift results for the year ending 3 October 2009.

The company reported that overall group turnover for the financial year fell by 1.4 per cent, but was flat during the second half of the year as a result of strong food sales boosted by its value-for-money 'F-Plan'. In a statement, a spokesperson for Marston's said: "Our focus on the F-Plan - on food, families, females and forty/fifty somethings - and on building new pub-restaurants has contributed to this robust performance, with food sales now representing 38 per cent of total retail sales.

"We have a clearly defined growth agenda for each of our trading divisions. In our managed pubs, growth is being driven by an accelerated new-build programme and a clear focus on value for money. In our tenanted and leased pubs, we have introduced innovative solutions to stabilise trading in weaker tenanted pubs."