Warmer weather promises to thaw out chilling results for Enterprise Inns

Solihull-based Enterprise Inns, which leases out more than 6,000 pubs across the UK, said business during the six months to the end of March was “particularly challenging” and shrunk pre-tax profits by 14 per cent to £55m.

But Enterprise said recently-improved trading has slowed the like-for-like sales slide to one per cent.

It has boosted hopes of a return to underlying sales growth in its second half.

The coldest spring since 1952 combined with weak consumer spending and the ongoing disposal of pubs to drag overall half-year sales almost nine per cent lower to £312m.

It sold another 161 pubs during the six months, raising £54m to reduce its debt mountain to £2.7bn. Enterprise expects to sell pubs worth £150m during the year.

The group also spent £29m on sprucing up 260 pubs, and expects to complete another 600 this year.

Chief executive Ted Tuppen said: “Trading in the first half of the year has been particularly challenging.

“The heavy snowfalls in January and the coldest spring for many years have not encouraged customers to venture out to their local pub. Against this backdrop we are satisfied with the results for the first half of the financial year and are encouraged that in recent weeks we have seen a recovery in trade.”

The group said it was encouraged by a 17 per cent fall in business failures. It spent £3m during the six months to help struggling landlords.

Enterprise has struck a deal with brewer Molson Coors to cut the cost of pubs’ Sky TV package by 30 per cent or £3,000 a year for each pub.

It is also rolling out free wi-fi internet at its pubs after agreeing to a tie-up with Arqiva, which will save its publicans about £500 a year.

The group welcomed a 1p cut in beer duty, but slammed proposals for a statutory code to enforce the relationship between pub companies and tenants.