A slump in reveller numbers at its Jumpin Jaks venues led to a disappointing Christmas for pub and nightclub operator Luminar Leisure.
The poor performance of the chain - which saw its competitive advantage of late opening hours wiped away with the introduction of new licensing laws - was largely behind Luminar's 1.7 per cent fall in like-for-like sales across the festive period.
Luminar's nightclubs - including the Oceana and Liquid brands - rose 2.3 per cent in the five weeks to January 2.
Jumpin Jaks, which has 16 venues across the UK, was largely responsible for Luminar's eight per cent fall in sales in its non-nightclub outlets.
The Milton Keynes-based company, which operates the Jam House in Birmingham, admitted the brand had little to differentiate itself from other city centre bars since it lost the advantage of longer opening hours.
It plans to continue trading the venues though analyst Greg Feehely of Altium Securities said the City needed to hear more about Luminar's plans for the chain "as it will continue to be a drag on earnings".
He said he expected Luminar's full-year pretax profits to fall by around 5.6 per cent to around £45.5 million.
Chicago Rock Cafe, Luminar's other main non-nightclub interest, saw operating profits increase against Christmas trading in 2004 - after new management was brought in to freshen up the brand.
Finance director Nick Beighton said Luminar was considering the future of all of the Jumpin' Jaks venues, and was selling or closing five of them.
Mr Beighton said: "If we can't sell, we'll look at rebranding them."
