Regent Inns' sales hit, blames new trading hours

Regent Inns' sales hit, blames new trading hours

	Published : Wed, 08 Feb 2006 09:35 By : Richard Owen Print this Story

LONDON: Regent Inns, the company that runs the Walkabout pubs and Jongleurs comedy clubs, said its sales were down in the first half of the fiscal, partly blaming the new trading hours for the poor show. It said sales had fallen 2 per cent to 65.8 million pounds in the six months ended December 2006.

While the company said the decline was mainly due to disposals and closures, executive chairman Bob Ivell felt the new licensing regime too had also contributed to the situation.

He said, the company had adopted an extremely diligent approach towards controlling operations during the transitional period -- granting of new licenses and the initial period following the reforms. "As a result, our trading performance was affected during the period."

The company had brought in voluntary restrictions at its venues before the new licence hearings, introduced plastic glasses and bottles, stepped up door security and insisted on ID cards for entry, all in the best long-term interests of the business, Ivell said.

He also said increased police presence in the streets had affected sales. "People walking around in police uniforms don't exactly tend to enhance people's drinking," he said.

The company said its underlying profits grew 12 per cent to 6.4 million pounds during the period, and pre-tax profits were up 5.2 million pounds from 900,000 pounds in the year-ago period. The company had restructured and renegotiated its banking facilities and had exceptional costs of 4.3 million pounds.

Regent is not paying an interim dividend as it felt there are a number of opportunities, including reducing debt, which will create better returns for shareholders.

Ivell is confident its Walkabout chain will benefit from the football World Cup and Commonwealth Games in the second half of 2006.

The company’s shares fell 9 per cent to 101 pence after the announcement, valuing the company at about 112 million pounds.