Oakman Inns and Restaurants reports year of progress: Oakman Inns and Restaurants, the company led by Peter Borg-Neal, has reported a profit before interest of £230,000 in the year to 1 April 2012 on turnover up 22 per cent to £7.6m – it lost £306,000 the year before. Gross profit increased by £1m with gross profit margin increasing from 30.7 per cent to 38.3 per cent from £1.9m to £2.9m. The company stated: “Profit before interest and depreciation was a fantastic result moving from a loss last year of £306,000 to a £230,000 profit this year, giving us great confidence that we are on the right track. The balance sheet reflects a business with a growing tangible assets base, with fixed assets up from £4.6m to £5.5m to support a strong sales growth. Net operating cashflow significantly moved into a positive in the year, generating £264,000 of cash compared to an outflow the previous year of £96,000. Total cash was an outflow after taking into account £1.3m spending on the refurbishment of the estate. The 2012 financial year has been another very dynamic year with sales increasing by 22 per cent and the five developed sites operating very successfully despite a very difficult continuing economic climate. Some key highlights included: The Old Post Office, our second site, saw like-for-like sales increase by 27 per cent on top of 16 per cent sales growth in the previous year; The Red Lion, our third site, saw like-for-like sales increase by 75 per cent; The Blue Boar, our fifth site, underwent a £1.1m refurbishment and opened on time and on budget; The Kings Arms, Berkhamsted, grew from a £24,000-a-week revenue site to £35,000 revenue site in its full year of operation. The loss for the year after taxation and minority interests was a significant year-on-year improvement, amounting to a loss of £460,659 compared to £581,328 the year before. The business generated £464,542 of net cash flow from operations (2011 – loss of £96,232). Since its year-end the company bought a site in Abingdon for £1.6m, with a £1.55 bridging loan from shareholders due for repayment in June 2013.” 

Anglian Country Inns reports turnover rise: Anglian Country Inns, the award-winning operator of four pubs owned by the Nye family, has reported turnover of £4,968,242 in the year to 31 March 2012, up from £3,791,024 the year before. Profit before tax was £91,841 compared to £203,529 the year before as a result of site opening costs. The company stated: “The company opened a new outlet during the year and the trading results are, as expected, reflecting the start-up costs relating to that outlet. The outlet is now fully operating and adding to the overall profitability of the company.”

Grand Union Bars reports 13 per cent like-for-likes in December: London-based Grand Union Group, led by Adam Marshall, has reported like-for-like sales were up 13 per cent for the month of December to hit £715,000 net, with a 25 per cent increase in like-for-like food sales. A spokesman said: “This was mainly driven by increased pre-orders of corporate groups in our Paddington and Farringdon sites which recorded 24 per cent and 21 per cent like-for-like growth respectively. New Year’s Eve proved to be equally popular as last year, with pre-booked ticket sales increasing by 12 per cent on 2011. There was however a reduced walk-in footfall due to the weather, but this did not dampen the festive spirit!”