Trading on track, claims Cains Beer Company

Cains, the 100-pub strong Liverpool-based pubco and brewer, says it had made progress throughout its estate despite the impact of the smoking ban, commodity price rises and the downturn in consumer spending.

In a pre-close trading statement the group said trading had been in line with expectations.

"We continue to make progress and have put in place various initiatives to drive synergies and extract cost from the business," the statement said.

The Honeycombe Leisure estate, acquired last year via a reverse takeover, had been fully integrated, Cains reported, "generating synergy benefits from the closure of Honeycombe's head office in Preston, the provision of a central distribution centre of product to the pubs and rationalisation of the workforce".

The group did not report how much it had saved through this process.

Cains' chief executive Sudaghara Dusanj said: "'Cains and Honeycombe integrating as one company was always based on a deliverable turnaround strategy and it still is.

"Challenges exist, but the progress made so far has been encouraging and we are confident that the model we have put in place will rejuvenate the pubs and build on the success of the brewery and its brands across our own estate, the on trade and off trade."

Dusanj said the current trading climate was "difficult but not unforeseen" and Cains was "well placed to build a sustainable and profitable future under a strong brand with an experienced team."

Cains reports its results for the 18 months to October 31 2007 on April 10 2008.