Pub groups confident

PUBS are closing and beer sales are down but two of the countries biggest pub groups are confident about their prospects.

JD Wetherspoon, which has around 80 pubs in the North West and employs 3,000 staff, said like-for-like sales increased by 1.5% in the 13 weeks to October 26.

Operating margins declined by 1.3% reflecting the higher costs of labour, food and marketing.

Meanwhile, Punch Taverns, which has a leased estate of 7,500 pubs – with around 1,000 in the North West, made a loss after exceptional items of £65m in the 53 weeks to August 23, with like-for-like pub sales down 3.3%.

But the group insisted it is, “resilient in a challenging market” and optimistic about its long-term prospects.

According to accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers 64 pub businesses went bust between July and September, twice as many as last year. The British Beer and Pub Association said beer sales had fallen by 7% in the last three months.

Hundreds of pub closures are expected in the coming years but Wetherspoon continues to open new venues and Punch said closures were “relatively small” at 3% of its estate.

In a statement Wetherspoon said: “Notwithstanding the continued difficult conditions in the wider UK economy, we remain confident of the company’s prospects for the financial year ending July 2009.”

Punch Taverns said: “Although not immune to the weakening UK consumer environment, Punch does benefit from an extremely high quality, well diversified estate leaving it in a strong position to meet the current market challenges.”