Pub monitor thriving in the feared credit crunch

Apr 16 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

PUB performance monitoring company Brulines says the credit crunch is boosting its business because landlords particularly need the information it collects during tough trading conditions.

The Stockton-based business, which provides systems to measure data such as how much beer has been sold via each pump in a pub, issued an upbeat trading update to the stock market yesterday.

It said trading in the second half of its financial year had been robust and its final results for the 12 months to March 31 would be marginally ahead of expectations.

Chief executive James Dickson said: “What is working in our favour is that a lot of pub groups are focusing on their operations. The market is tough at the moment because consumer spending isn’t as strong as it was.

“There have been duty increases passed, there is bad news on the credit crunch, etc, so you are in a situation where you need to have better information coming in. The Brulines equipment pays for itself.”

AIM-listed Brulines, which made profits of £2.18m during the first half of its year, up almost 60% on the previous 12 months, integrated Nucleus Data into the business in January. The acquisition of the North Yorkshire-based business, which monitors how much beer is dispensed, was approved by the Office of Fair Trading last November. Brulines expects it to begin contributing to the group’s earnings during the 2008/9 financial year.

Mr Dickson said Brulines had also been reaping rewards from the further development of systems that can collect data on quality as well as quantity.

“We have a strong foothold in the gaming machine remote data capture and management,” he said.

The annual results will be published on June 17. The sales figures, down during the first half of the year despite higher profits, will again be compared to 2006’s results.

“That was an exceptional year with a high level of installations. We are still running against the comparisons,” said Mr Dickson. “But our level of ongoing surveys is increasing and that drives profit. We are happy, but we are not resting on our laurels.”

The business is also planning to change its name from Brulines (Holdings) plc to Brulines Group plc at the annual general meeting in July, to reflect the fact it is now a group of companies.

Mr Dickson was the Tees Valley winner of The Journal sponsored North East Business Executive of the Year Award for 2007.