Amber Taverns reports ‘excellent' trading year
North West pub firm Amber Taverns has reported an "excellent" year with revenue up 37% to £25.4m (2011: £18.5m) for the 52 weeks to 29 January 2012.
The company, which owns 77 managed, community pubs, said like-for-like sales were up 3%. Profit before tax was back in the black at £3.2m, compared with a £0.4m loss in 2011.
Amber said it acquired 14 pubs that delivered returns in excess of 20% following extensive refurbishment. All units in the company's portfolio are reported to be profitable.
Founded in 2005, Amber was bought in October 2010 by LGV, which continued the existing management team led by chairman Clive Preston (pictured, second from right) in its strategy of taking struggling community pubs and revitalising them to create sustainable businesses.
Preston said he was delighted to report on an excellent year for Amber, adding: "We have continued to demonstrate that wet-led community pubs can be great businesses, great assets for their local communities and a much-needed engine for growth in the wider economy through the work and jobs created by our investment in previously unloved and undermanaged pubs.
"We attribute our success to providing a first class environment, a consistent value for money proposition and well incentivised operators who run our pubs on Amber's innovative Operator Agreement.
"The new financial year has started well with positive like-for-like sales, a strong pipeline of acquisitions identified and the positive impact of events such as Euro 2012 and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee to come. The directors remain confident for the year ahead."
By Janie Manzoori-Stamford
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