Insider Media Limited

Solihull pubco Enterprise Inns has experienced a £30m drop in pre-tax profit. The company said it netted £61m before tax for the six months ending 31 March in an interim statement this morning, where it added it had agreed terms on a £625m new forward start facility.

Average net income per pub remained stable over the six months at £31,200, while net debt was reduced by £175m.

A £61m pre-tax profit was shadowed by the company's results in the comparable 2010 period, in which it raked in £91m before tax. Profit before tax and exceptional items was £74m (2010: £86m).

Ted Tuppen, chief executive, said: "We have achieved a solid set of results, in line with our expectations. Headline numbers are impacted by a 9 per cent reduction in the average number of pubs in our portfolio and higher leasehold costs, reflecting our successful sale and leaseback programme.

"We have a robust balance sheet, a secure, flexible and tax efficient financing structure and we continue to generate strong cash flows. Our bank debt of £545m at the end of H1 is already well below the new forward start facility of £625m which came into force on 16 May 2011 and we expect to see further substantial reductions in bank debt by the end of this financial year."

Tuppen added that the second half of the year had "started well", with sales receiving a boost from the good weather over the bank holiday weekends.