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Enterprise lift as it battles on
Evening Standard 30 Sep 2008Enterprise Inns shares got a welcome lift today after it reassured the market with a fairly upbeat trading statement.
Britain's biggest pub company has seen its stock halved this year as consumers tightened their belts.
The shares were up 19¾p to 177p after the group reported "a robust performance in a very tough market".
Enterprise has put plans to convert to a real estate investment trust on hold in light of the unrest in financial markets.
It is adopting a "cautious approach" to the move, which it insists is still in investors' interests.
Enterprise said trading conditions are "difficult".
It is offering concessions to licensees struggling to cope with the downturn.
Profits are likely to fall by 5% in the second half of the year due to lower beer sales.
Some analysts fear Enterprise may have funding problems, but chief executive Ted Tuppen insists it is shipshape.
He says most of the company debt is fixed at 6.5% for the next 10 years.
