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Large quoted pub groups have pronounced on Christmas and New Year trading, and ‘challenging’ seems to be the consensus.

All Bar One and Harvester Inns operator Mitchells & Butlers claimed trading is proving resilient, having enjoyed 0.7 per cent like-for-like sales growth for the first 17 weeks of its financial year. Experience garnered from Scottish bars informs that the smoking ban should lead to compensational improvements in food sales in England.

Unloved shares in the group, which have dropped from around £9 to £4 since July, frothed up on news that ‘a number’ of predators are circling. This came as some consolation for investors reeling from revelations that £274 million had been blown on a financial hedge put in place to counter the risks of a property transaction with major shareholder Robert Tchenguiz. The deal was abandoned and the hedge closed out at a massive loss, resulting in the resignation of its finance director.

FTSE 250 pub peer Punch Taverns, which reduced its estate size last year, is the first to confirm its interest. Otherwise, it sees challenges ahead for the sector, especially with recent trading ‘more subdued’ due to the smoking ban and waning consumer confidence. Brewer and pub owner Greene King weighed in with news that, although like-for-like sales were down marginally, its Loch Fyne restaurant acquisition showed a gain of 2.3 per cent and its brewery 6.5 per cent.

At Enterprise Inns, the FTSE 100 giant, the management have been trying to persuade the authorities to allow it to gain the tax-efficient status of a real estate investment trust (REIT). It views the market as ‘likely to remain difficult for some time’.

Amid small-caps, brewer and publican Cains Beer said progress had been ‘encouraging’ and that, as a major sponsor of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture with pouring rights at events, it is upbeat about 2008.