Fuller, Smith & Turner, London's last traditional family brewery, continues to avoid the woes that have hit much of the rest of the pub trade, reporting sales gains and an 11% jump in profits.

The group, dominated by its founding families through a complex three-tiered share register, said its focus on quality properties in London and the southeast of England, combined with a strong balance sheet and sustained investments in the estate, helped it outperform many peers.

Chairman Michael Turner said: "We've been investing in all of them throughout the downturn – whether that's in the kitchens or in the general state of the pub – so that at no stage does it look as if we're in a recession if you're in a Fuller's pub. If you can do that, customers really appreciate you and come a bit more often."

Comparable sales at the group's 163 managed houses rose 8% for the 26 weeks to 25 September, while revenues from 201 tenanted pubs were ahead by 1%. Pubs run directly by Fuller's now generate more than twice as much operating profit than is created from the group's larger number of tenanted sites. Led by its London Pride ale, Fuller's brewing operations saw sales volumes shrink by 2% to 107,100 barrels. Turner said the business had been hit by distribution challenges, largely caused by troubles elsewhere in the pub industry.

"Nationally, cask ale had a very good year last year, but from 1 January onwards have been going down again... We have traditionally sold to a lot to these very large companies who have been selling pubs off [a reference to Punch Taverns, Admiral Taverns and other debt-heavy pub landlord groups]. And where they've been selling pubs off we've obviously lost access through the routes of distribution that we had. It just takes some time to gain access through a different route."

He added that some of the multinational lager-brewing firms appeared to be "losing interest" in distributing to the harder-to-reach corners of the pub industry, creating further temporary challenges for Fullers, which relies in part on the distribution network of larger rivals.

He added that cask ale – unavailable at off licences or supermarkets – remained at the heart of Fuller's offering. Other categories of beer, particularly stronger lagers, have seen sales through pubs decline dramatically in the last two years. The smoking ban, increased duty and aggressive price competition from supermarkets have been blamed.