Cains encouraged by May trading

Liverpool-based brewer and operator Cains has reported an "encouraging"​ start to summer at its Annual General Meeting.

The company said it had benefited from the recent good weather in May and its recent gains in the contract packaging and brands division.

Cains recently reported a £2.8m loss for the fourteen months to 28 October 2007 following its reverse takeover of Honeycombe Leisure.

It completed the acquisition of 92 pubs from Honeycombe Leisure, including 25 freeholds and 67 leaseholds, in June last year.

"The first anniversary of Cains' merger with Honeycombe Leisure is almost upon us and despite remaining cautious about the outlook for 2008, I am pleased with the progress and positive steps made to date and believe that our brand, pubs and people will help us continue to punch above our weight,"​ said chairman Roy Morris.

"We will energetically look for opportunities to further successfully grow the business in line with our vision to become Britain's favourite beer company."​

He added: "Our pub refurbishment programme, which is key to the turnaround of the group, is now well underway with three sites having been refurbished, including the Malbank Inn in Nantwich, which re-opens later today following a significant investment into it and we are delighted by the positive performance and feedback we are seeing following our recent investment at the Black Horse in Croston, Lancashire. ​

"Five further sites have been identified for refurbishment as the next part of the rebranding exercise with another 30 in the pipeline thereafter.

"We intend to complete the refurbishment of these five sites within the next three months."