Sports Café tight-lipped on Massive Pub Company speculation

Sports Café, the AIM-listed sports bar operator, was remaining tight-lipped over speculation that it was poised to buy up to 25 pubs from London-based Massive Pub Company.

Peter Marks, Sports Café's chief executive, refused to comment on the suggestion the group was set to acquire the pubs, which include a number of 'Tup' sports-led sites.

When Sports Café recently announced its first half results - which saw sales across the eight venue-estate down 16 per cent at £7.8m, and pre-tax losses of £289,000 - it said it would be pursuing a "revised strategy to expand...through acquisition", a policy which was "expected to provide the basis for growth in the future".

Massive Pub Company chief executive Peter Linacre revealed earlier this year that he was looking to sell up to 25 of his estate's pubs - around half of the group's portfolio - in order to focus on his food-led businesses.

Last week he confirmed to thepublican.com​ that the pubs in question were still for sale, but refused to be drawn on the identity of a possible buyer, or the timing of a transaction.

Marks meanwhile said he expected Sports Café's landmark London venue to perform well next June, despite the England football team's ignominious elimination from its Euro 2008 qualifying group last week.

He admitted the absence of any domestic interest in next year's competition was obviously "a disappointment", and that qualification would have given trade a boost.

But the group's Haymarket site in London's West End would do well "because of the different nationalities who come to the capital and the fact that it's an institution".

Marks claimed that England's exit had already been factored into next year's trading across the group's estate.

"In formulating our budgets before the Israel/Russia game we had assumed Russia would win and England would be out, even before last Wednesday's 3-2 defeat to Croatia.

"We had five days of hope, but we didn't have time to reconfigure our budgets before England were gone," he added.

Analysts last week were estimating an operator such as Regent Inns could generate sales of around £300,000 per England game from a tournament like Euro 2008. Marks refused to speculate on what England and Scotland's elimination would cost his own business.

Sports Café's shares, which last December were trading at 45.5p, were unchanged at 8.5p.