Admiral Taverns "broadly in line" with forecasts
Admiral Taverns pubs are trading “broadly in line” with expectations except in relation to AWP income, according to managing director Lynne D’Arcy.
The company, which currently has a core estate of 2,093 pubs with another 190 on the market, had forecast before the start of last year’s smoke ban that beer volumes would drop by 7%. D’Arcy said that beer volumes and income was not “far from’ the 7% drop it had anticipated.
“Everything apart from AWP income is broadly in line,” she said. Last year, Admiral Taverns conceded it might have to offer tenants rent concessions to help them get through the first year of the smoke ban.
D’Arcy said rent concessions had not been necessary because the company has followed a pro-active route with capital expenditure schemes, funding smoking solutions and help with introducing food offers.
“We have helped where we see an opportunity,” said D’Arcy. “Other than that we’ve been quite aggressive in selling pubs.”
D’Arcy conceded that machine income, which Admiral had thought would drop by 10% in the wake of the smoking ban, had been affected by consolidation among suppliers that had had an impact on quality of service. Machine income had dropped by “10% and more”, she added.
To Comment: Login or Register