Pub sales help Enterprise Inns cause

SOLIHULL pubco Enterprise Inns (ETI) is claiming a strong start to the year in difficult trading conditions.

The firm, which has just published its interim management statement for the 18 weeks to February 4, holds its annual general meeting today.

It says average net income per pub is up 5%, up from 1% in 2010/11 and estimates that total proceeds from its programme of asset disposals will be between £150m and £200m for the current financial year.
 
ETI says it has strengthened and expanded its operations team during the first quarter, recruiting an additional managing director and creating four new divisions in order to provide greater focus on helping its publicans drive performance in what continues to be a very challenging market.

And it says it has now largely completed its accelerated disposal programme of underperforming assets which do not fit the future profile of the business.

So far this financial year, including a sale and leaseback package of 17 pubs for £24m, Enterprise Inns has completed the sale of 63 pubs for total proceeds of £40m.

And it has exchanged contracts for the sale of a further 33 pubs, with net proceeds of £33m million for completion during the current financial year, including the package of 15 pubs which is in the process of being sold to rival pubco Fullers for £22.9m.

Meanwhile, Enterprise Inns has appointed Robert Walker as successor to Hubert Reid as chairman. He will join the board as a non executive director and chairman designate following the conclusion of today’s AGM and assume the role of chairman on March 31.

Walker is currently chairman of builder’s merchants Travis Perkins and Americana International Holdings and senior independent director of Tate & Lyle. He was previously chairman of W H Smith, Williams Lea Group and BCA Europe and group chief executive of Severn Trent.