Shares misery for Jongleurs owner
Regent Inns loses half its value overnight
Shares in troubled Jongleurs owner Regent Inns have suffered another huge slump, with another half wiped off its value in the last 24 hours.Its share price currently stands at 5.5p, down from 10p this time yesterday. This time a year ago, the price was 85p – meaning the company’s value has slumped by a staggering 93 per cent in just 12 months.
Earlier this month, Regent said it was still in talks regarding a potential offer for the company, following another slide in share price. But it added that the credit crunch meant it was taking longer than expected for potential buyers to secure the finance.
Regent’s last interim results showed it made a profit of £1.2million on a turnover of £76million.
When Jongleurs founder Maria Kempinska sold her eight comedy clubs in 2000, the deal valued Jongleurs alone at £30million. Today, the whole of Regent Inns – now including 16 comedy clubs, the Walkabout chain of 50 Australian theme bars plus 31 Old Orleans restaurants – is worth just under £7million.
Click here to see a graph of Regent’s tumbling share price.
Published: 24 Jun 2008
