But company still managed £10m profit

Jongleurs audiences fell noticeably after September 11, the company says in its new financial report released today.

But trading recovered over Christmas and New Year, owner Regent Inns told the City, with festive bookings up 8.6 per cent on the previous year.

The parent company made an operating profit of £9.9million in the last six months of the year.

Turnover was up more than 20 per cent, much of it thanks to the Walkabout chain of Australian theme pubs.

The company is to sell 13 of its unbranded pubs for £8.1million so it can
concentrate on its more profitable brands, including Jongleurs.

Since the half-year period covered by the interim results, new Jongleurs have opened in Glasgow and Cardiff

And new ventures are planned in Birmingham, Reading, Leeds, Bristol, Swindon and London's Leicester Square. The company is to sell 13 of its unbranded pubs for £8.1million to help fund the expansion.

Chairman Peter Savage said: "The strong momentum achieved over the previous two years at Regent has been maintained in the past six months, which saw further growth in sales and profits.

"Our roll-out programme for both Walkabout and Bar Risa/Jongleurs continues to gain impetus as we focus on establishing them throughout the UK.

"We have exchanged or completed contracts on a further 19 properties. This reinforces our confidence in achieving our roll-out targets of 50 Walkabouts and 20 Bar Risa/Jongleurs by the end of 2003."

Published: 6 Feb 2002