Dec 5 (Reuters) - Marston's said on Tuesday its Christmas bookings topped last year's numbers and also forecast an improved medium-term margin growth after the British pub group posted a lower-than-expected jump in annual profit.

British pub groups are hoping to usher in customers as Britons gear up for a merry holiday season in a year blighted by a prolonged cost-of-living squeeze and gloomy macro-economic outlook.

"We anticipate an improving outlook in which cost headwinds are largely abating and like-for-like sales are up over 7% since the year-end," Chair William Rucker said in a statement.

The pub chain, which has not declared a dividend since 2020, said the group has continued to manage inflationary challenges, with electricity charges fixed until the end of fiscal year 2024 and gas rates until March-end 2025.

The company, which had stated it benefited from increased customer preference towards premium lagers such as San Miguel and Birra Moretti than standard lagers, said it was targeting a 2% margin growth in the medium term.

The Wolverhampton-based company, which operates more than 1,400 pubs and bars primarily based in local communities in Britain, said its pre-tax profit for the 52-week period ended Sept. 30 was 35.5 million pounds ($44.8 million), compared with LSEG estimates of 41.4 million pounds based on an average of seven analysts.

($1 = 0.7920 pounds) (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)