Smith & Turner said it was confident trading at its pubs in the London financial district would bounce back after it suffered from the worst downturn in investment banking since the 1970s.
Pub operators have blamed relentless job cuts in the square mile for poor trading in the British capital. Financial institutions have cut tens of thousands of jobs since late 2000, after slowing equity markets and a dearth of mergers forced them to slash costs.
“The one thing that we can be sure of is that it will bounce back and when it does, the city pubs will become one of the engines for growth of our business again,” Fuller’s Chief Executive Michael Turner told Reuters in an interview. He could not say when he expected a recovery at his city pubs.
Fuller, which operates The Fine Line chain of bars and brews the London Pride ale, said pre-tax profits before exceptionals rose 10 percent to $27.05 million in its year to March 29.
“We have got lots of parts of the business which are doing extremely well, which are supporting those parts of the business which aren’t doing quite so well,” Turner said.
Fuller’s hotels, its brewery division and pubs outside the square mile posted higher profits for the full year.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
