Luminar nightclub dancefloors empty thanks to cold nights

Sales plunged 9.9% on a like-for-like basis between Christmas and the end of the financial year on 25 February compared with the same period a year earlier.

Luminar, whose founder Stephen Thomas quit as chief executive on 23 February, said falling sales were a direct result of a drop in customer numbers and pointed to a big rise in unemployment among its core audience in the 18-26 age group.

But the nightclubs operator, which runs the Oceana, Liquid and Lava & Ignite chains, added: "Sales per customer and gross margins have remained at similar levels to the previous year."

Luminar has launched a "rigorous cost reduction exercise". The board maintained that full-year profits, to be announced on 13 May, will be in line with expectation but the shares fell 4.2% to 34p.

Net borrowings stood at £93 million, down from £142 million, and Luminar says it continues to meet its debt covenants.

New CEO Simon Douglas, a former executive at music retailer Zavvi, who started this week will focus on creating "higher-quality" customer experience "at reasonable prices".

Luminar said: "We remain confident that this strategy will enable us to outperform competitors and maintain our market-leading position."