Brulines benefits from tough market

The tough trading environment for pubs is expected to prove a boost for cellar and AWP monitoring outfit Brulines as operators drive to become more efficient and improve their offer.

So claimed the Stockton-on-Tees-based group, which today announced annual turnover for the year to March 31, 2008, up 1.8 per cent at £17.06m.

"The recent downturn in the economy coupled with last year's smoking ban has put further pressure on the pub and leisure sectors to extract operating efficiencies and value from their activities.

"The group's core and new product offerings have, therefore, assumed greater importance within our customer base as our data and analysis services are put to increasing use by our customers to manage their own costs and marketing activities," it said.

Core business turnover fell 2.6 per cent to £16.07m "due to the exceptionally high level of installation activity associated with the Enterprise Inns roll-out in 2007".

Operating profit rose 26.8 per cent to £4.1m, while gross margins increased from 43.5 per cent to 53.4 per cent.

The group said that after absorbing costs associated with the integration Machine Insite, Coin Metrics, and Nucleus Data, which it acquired last year, pre-tax profit for of £4.17m for the year was £1.80m greater than the same period last year "delivering a 65 per cent increase in earnings per share to 11.84p".

The board said it would recommend a total dividend for the year of 5p a share, up 67 per cent on last year.

Brulines said it had installed 2,000 new systems in 2007/08 and undertaken 1,300 upgrades, gaining new business with Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises and Charles Wells, as well as a five-year extension with Punch Taverns.

The group now had 21,500 systems installed in the UK.

As well as their equipment keeping tabs on licensees to ensure they don't buy outside of their landlords' beer tie, Brulines expects its beer quality monitoring systems to help improve individual pub offerings by raising standards at the point of dispense.

"Brand Quality Monitoring is proven technology with positive customer feedback on its capability to address waste, revenue shrinkage and poor beer quality," the group said.