Adnams warns on profits

SUFFOLK brewer Adnams warned today that its profits for 2008 would be “substantially” lower than the previous year following a further deterioration in trade.

SUFFOLK brewer Adnams warned today that its profits for 2008 would be “substantially” lower than the previous year following a further deterioration in trade.

The Southwold company said its beer volumes were down by 6% overall and by 10% in the on-trade, amid the tough trading conditions affecting all pub operators.

Adnams sells more than 90% of its beer through pubs outside its own estate, which it said left if exposed to the soaring pub closure rate - currently running at a rate of 39 a week according to some reports.

Its own estate of 80 pubs, its two Southwold hotels - the Swan and the Crown - and its chain of nine Cellar & Kitchen stores had also been affected by the recession, it added, with its win business further hit by the weakness of the pound making imports more expensive and so eroding margins.

Adnams also said that it was having to pump cash into supporting its struggling tenants, while also helping establish the more recently launched Cellar & Kitchen stores. The roll-out of the C&K brand had been halted, it added, although it said to still had confidence in the concept.

In a statement today Adnams said: “At the time of the interim report, the board foresaw a difficult period ahead, though the seriousness of the economic decline that has occurred has exceeded the expectations of most.

“Overall our trading since August has been less strong than we had anticipated at that time, but we have continued to concentrate on doing the right things for both the shorter and longer term.”