Jamies Bars announces profit rise

Central London bar operator Jamies Bars has announced an 11% rise in pre-tax profits to £216,000 for the six months to 2 February.

The company, which owns and operates 17 bars, also increased its turnover by 23% to £5.39m in the same period.

The improvement in turnover is attributed to two new bars that have opened in the past year. Like-for-like turnover has fallen by 1.6%.

The company could soon be sold. It has been approached by a potential buyer and issued a statement last week, saying it was in "very initial discussions" and did not expect that any offer would be at a significant premium to the group's current market price. But industry insiders think a sale is likely.

Last year Jamies put a freeze on capital spending after its pre-tax profit fell by 59% in the 12 months to 28 July.