Cains integration of Honeycombe Leisure "ahead of target
Liverpool-based Cains Beer Company said its integration of the Honeycombe Leisure business was "ahead of target".
Cains' chief executive Sudarghara Dusanj said Honeycombe's head office in Preston had been closed ahead of schedule with eight redundancies, with remaining staff transferred to the Liverpool brewer's site in the city.
"We've been getting the team sorted, our beers poured throughout 60 to 70 per cent of the estate and now we're sorting out distribution," he told thepublican.com.
Next on the 'to-do' list came addressing the impact of the smoking ban on the estate and finalising capital expenditure proposals, he added.
Dusanj was speaking as AIM-listed Cains announced its second set of interim results, having extended its current accounting year to 18 months, to October 30 2007.
Turnover for the twelve months to 29 April 2007 fell 22 per cent to £36.2m, "reflecting the disposal of loss making short-term lease contracts and some loss in volume in other areas".
The group recorded an operating loss of £488,000, versus an equivalent profit for 2006 of £311,000.
Dusanj said Cains' enlarged estate would be predominantly managed, with some tenancies, and focus would be sharpened.
"This will be a directly run pub estate. It will focus on core activities of selling beer and food. We don't want to be involved in things like VCTs," he said.
Under its previous management Honeycombe had two Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and had entered into a number of short term contracts, with the latter proving a loss-making exercise.
Cains had no plans to buy any more pubs for the foreseeable future, Dusanj said, and he warned that the turnaround of the pub estate would not happen overnight.
"This will be a brand-led recovery and will be a long-term process," he added.
Cains also announced the resignation of former Honeycombe chief executive James Baer.
