Trust and Herald face mixed fortunes - again

The pair of pub companies owned by leisure magnate Trevor Hemmings have again reported mixed fortunes.

Hemmings' tenanted company, Trust Inns, has reported its sixth successive year of profit growth, while his managed business, Herald Inns & Bars, has reported its third year of heavy losses.

Herald, which owns bar chain Brannigans, made a loss of £7.3m on a turnover of £39.4m in the year to 31 March 2006, compared to a loss of £3.6m on a turnover of £28.1m the year before. In the previous year there was a loss of £3.47m on sales of £20.6m.

The company reported that it invested £5m on refurbishing property during a "challenging" year.

Herald said that the change in licensing regime had

"created uncertainty in the marketplace, leading to in-creased opening hours but disproportionate additional costs to income".

The company added: "The focus for the coming year is to capitalise on the largely refurbished estate, improve profitability and reduce costs."

Herald placed Brannigans on the market at the end of 2006, but is understood to have withdrawn the division from sale. At the end of January, former Yates senior executive Kevin Allcock replaced former Jennings boss Mike Clayton as Herald chief executive.

Meanwhile, Trust, which runs 609 tenanted pubs, saw pre-tax profit rise to £12.7m in the year to 31 March 2006 compared to £12.2m the year before. Turnover in 2006 was £31.1m, slightly below the figure of £31.7m the year before.

Trust Inns, led by Brian King, was founded in 1995 and is now one of the UK's longest-standing tenanted pub companies. In October last year it acquired 102 outlets - a mix of tenanted and franchised pubs - from Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) for £101m. In the 12 months to 5 August 2006, the M&B pubs generated Ebitda of £10.2m.