Regent profits up despite terror attacks

Regent Inns saw profits rise by 5.6% in the second half of last year, despite the impact of the 11 September terrorist attacks and the subsequent slump in tourist trade, it said today.

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Pre-tax profits, before one-off items, for the 26 weeks to 29 December 2001 came in at £7.7m, compared with £7.3m the year before, on turnover of £59.3m, up 20.1%.

Trading in its Bar Risa and Jongleurs outlets was affected by 11 September, with a number of pre-planned parties being cancelled or suffering lower attendances in the wake of the attacks.

But the situation subsequently recovered over the Christmas and New Year period, said chairman Peter Savage.

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London also experienced tough trading conditions from the lower tourist numbers during the autumn, with its Discrete Estate unbranded pubs reporting like-for-like sales down by 4.7% as a whole and down by 12.6% in London. However, Regent's Walkabout Australian-themed bars did better, with like-for-like sales up by 13.3%. In the five-week Christmas and New Year period, sales grew by 26.4% year on year, with like-for-like sales up by 4.1%. Gross weekly sales at Walkabout averaged £54,000, while Bar Risa and Jongleurs averaged more than £94,000. In the week before Christmas, its Watford venue took a record £150,000. And its PALs late-night bars in Ipswich and Croydon averaged £52,000 in gross weekly sales. During the six-month period, the group opened six venues: four Walkabouts, one Surfers Nightclub and one Bar Risa. Since the end of December, two further Jongleurs have been opened, in Cardiff and Glasgow, with others in Birmingham and Reading in the pipeline. Savage said Regent was on track to achieve its target of 50 Walkabouts and 20 Bar Risa and Jongleurs by next year. There were no disposals in the period, but the group has said it now plans to sell 13 of its Discrete Estate pubs for £8.1m to Broken Foot Inns. "Sales continue to be ahead of last year by 20.7% and like-for-like sales, excluding known disposals from the Discrete Estate, are up 4.2%," added Savage. Regent incurred a one-off £2.7m loss during the period from a combination of a shortfall on the sale of four of six Unchained Growth pubs and other charges. This brought underlying pre-tax profits down to £4.8m. by Nic Paton