Enterprise Inns profits slip but stays positive
ENTERPRISE Inns, Britain’s biggest pub landlord, saw its pre-tax profits slip 10 per cent to £157m in the year to 30 September 2011 after it sales dropped and it sold off some of its pubs.
The pub group, which has been nursing itself back to health after a turbulent four years, said the average net income per pub improved by two per cent in the second half compared with a flat performance in the previous half.
Chief executive Ted Tuppen said the group sold 466 of its pubs in the year for a total of £106m, helping to boost cash flow and reduce its bank borrowings to £446m.
In the past three years, Enterprise has been attempting to improve the quality of its pub estate through investment and disposals, at the same time as reducing its massive bank debt.
Shares closed up 2.6 per cent at 29.5p yesterday after it said its new financial year had got off to a good start.
Tuppen, however, admitted conditions are likely to remain tough as the pub industry continues to be burdened by increased levies on alcohol.