Christmas revellers fail to cheer Jam House owner

NIGHTCLUB operator and Jam House owner Luminar said Christmas and New Year revellers failed to be put off by the bad weather and cheered themselves up by visiting its venues.

Over the key trading weeks of Christmas and New Year, same outlet sales were ahead of the group forecasts although still down on the previous year.

The group, which includes the Oceana brand, said excluding those weeks affected by the weather, same outlet sales for the 12 weeks to January 6, 2011 fell by 13.6%, which compares to 16.9% for the seven weeks to October 14.

Outside the main holiday week, the picture was not so rosy. Including those weeks affected by weather, same outlet sales for the 12 weeks to January 6 fell by 19.4% on the same period a year before.

Overall, same outlet sales for the 45 weeks to January 6 fell by 19.6%.
Before and after the extreme weather conditions in the lead up to Christmas, the group saw a reduction in the decline of sales from the level reported in its interim announcement in October 2010.

In an interim trading statement, the group said: “As expected, gross margin has been slightly lower reflecting the introduction of premium brands into the business. Customer reaction has been positive to the introduction of various initiatives including premium brands, cocktails and live entertainment.”

In addition, the group said it continued to refinance its debt, while it was also closely managing cash. Investment in new estate is being selective and is based on the expected benefits likely to be generated for the group.

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