Heavitree Brewery, the Devon-based tenanted pub operator, has reported a slight rise in pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 April 2013, but saw turnover decline 3.5% to £3.2m as some of its estate was impacted by flooding in the region.
Group operating profit stood at £541k an increase of 11.7% on last year.
It said that the drop in turnover was in part, due to a drop in rental income as a result of two sites being closed for capital investment and two other pubs being marketed for sale.
Managing director Graham Crocker said: “Also, revenue has been affected by a drop in gaming machine income which we believe may be as a result of the increased popularity of the new style of machines in betting shops.”
The group said it remained a challenging time to trade public houses and “once again the adverse weather conditions and in particular the flooding in the region at the start of the year has not helped many of our tenants”.
Crocker said: “It is very much to the credit of those who were flooded that they only lost in total two days of actual trading. The group operating profit at the end of the six months’ period is encouraging and we hope for another steady performance in the second half of the year.”
