Enterprise Inns pledges support for 'struggling' licensees

Shares in Enterprise Inns bounced back today after the pubco issued an interim management statement that contained no nasty surprises.

Though short on trading performance detail - EBITDA is "running broadly in line with the same period last year and earnings per share ahead" - Enterprise's statement outlined that the quality of its pub estate and the "expertise of our licensees and our support" meant it was not seeing any material deterioration in the key indicators of its licensees' financial health.

Having "aggressively" churned its estate in recent years "and invested effectively alongside licensees to develop a broader, high quality offering which is less dependent on beer sales", the group said it and those running its pubs were "less dependent" on beer sales which have been sliding in recent months.

Enterprise said it was all too aware of how tough the current market was, thanks to waning consumer confidence and the impact of the smoking ban, and so was determined to work closely with its licensees, "supporting those who are genuinely struggling, despite their best efforts, to deal with adverse market conditions".

Rent concessions would continue to be offered, where appropriate, the group added.

The group had spent £26m on 28 "high quality" pubs in the 15 week period to January 12, it said, with a further six awaiting completion.

Ten pubs and two plots of land were sold for £7m, £2m in excess of book value.

The 96 pubs that are up for sale - for alternative use - were expected to deliver a profit over book value as well, the group said.

Talks were continuing with the tax authorities as to the possibility of becoming eligible to become a real estate investment trust and the market would be update "when there are significant developments to report".

Meanwhile the group said it had purchased 5.5m shares at a cost of £29m, excluding associated costs. Analysts were reducing their forecast for share buybacks by the group for the next two years, citing liquidity issues in the debt markets.

Enterprise plans to release a pre-close trading statement on March 28 for the half year to March 31.

The group's shares were up 23p, at 426.5p.