Regent Inns feels the heat
REGENT INNS' Aussie-themed Walkabout and Bar Risa-Jongleurs bars suffered a major sales slump during the heatwave as sweltering drinkers stayed away from town centres.
Like-for-like sales in the eight weeks to 30 August at the two branded pubs chains were 9% down on a year earlier but chief executive Stephen Haupt said the decline was only for a short period.
Regent's expansion programme for the two chains saw underlying profits on continuing businesses jump 25% to £27.2m in the year to 5 July, beating analysts' forecasts.
It is disposing of its unbranded pubs in a move which lowered operating profits to £19.4m from £21.5m. The total dividend is pegged at 5.18p.
