Capital Pub Co. predicts strong sales through to London Olympics

20-Jun-2011 - Last updated on 21-Jun-2011 at 09:27 GMT

Related tags Olympic games 2012 summer olympics

Capital's West London pub the Ladbroke Arms was one of its 34 London pubs to help the company realise profits of £4.1m last year

Capital Pub Company, London's largest free house operator, predicts strong sales through to and beyond the London Olympics next year as the capital becomes the top destination for tourists.

The operator, who rejected a £53.9m bid for its business by Fuller's last week, saw a 48 per cent rise in profits for the year to 26 March 2011 to £4.1m. Sales went up 24 per cent to £27.2m, with 75 per cent of those coming from wet-led sales.

Capital chief executive Clive Watson said he expected business to remain strong this year as the company kept to its main focus of expanding within London, which would be a top destination for both local and international visitors in the run-up to, and during the London 2012 Olympics.

"The UK has a two speed economy with London a very buoyant market place from which Capital, with its larger estate, will benefit further in the future particularly coming into an Olympic year," he said.

Expanding business

Capital, which currently operates 34 pubs, plans to open up to 16 more pubs in London over the next two years. Three opened within the last financial year following refurbishment - The Victoria, The Actress and New Cross House. The Mansion in East Dulwich will re-open in September this year following works to refurbish it and it has just exchanged contracts to buy The Priory in Clerkenwell.

Chairman James Buxner said current trading was 'very strong' with the first 10 weeks sales up 20 per cent on last year's and expected the business to continue to do well with the London Olympics just one year away.

He said: "The Group is well financed, has a strong management team and a focused retailing strategy which will enable it to deliver further growth for its shareholders. We believe London will remain a buoyant market in which to trade and will benefit even further from the influx of both local and international visitors for the London Olympics in 2012. We are well positioned to take advantage."

Fuller's bid

Capital, which prides itself on being London's largest independent freehold pub company, rejected Fuller's bid last Friday because it 'substantially undervalued the business and its prospects.'

Fuller's offer proposal of 200p per share was 'rejected unanimously' by the Board, the company said today in its financial results.