Greene King offered some cause for optimism to the battered pub sector on Thursday after it announced a forecast-beating set of full-year results that prompted its shares to jump more than 8 per cent.

The Suffolk-based brewer and pub operator fended off the smoking ban, a slowdown in consumer spending and competition from supermarkets to raise profits before exceptional items by 1.6 per cent to £142m for the 53 weeks to the end of May 4.