The head of Britain's second-biggest pub operator said last night that the troubles in the sector would last at least a year.

Ted Tuppen, the chief executive of Enterprise Inns, said that a “fragile consumer” environment coupled with the smoking ban would see sales across the group's pub estate fall. “This is going to last for a year or so and won't get better in a day,” he said. “We have to recognise that people going to pubs have less money.”

Mr Tuppen said the first winter of the smoking ban was always going to be difficult and that it “clearly wasn't attractive to stand outside in the rain and smoke”.

Beer sales across the industry are thought to have declined by about 9per cent during October and November, but Enterprise, which did not give sales figures, said that its licencees were not as badly affected as that. The company has worked with its tenants to refurbish pubs and boost food offerings to protect against declining beer sales.

Enterprise Inns is the second pub group in two days to give warning of a difficult market environment caused by lower consumer spending and smokers staying at home.

Shares in the rival Punch Taverns fell to a three-year low on Wednesday after it reported weaker sales and gave a downbeat outlook for 2008.

Enterprise Inns, however, closed yesterday up 3.2 per cent, or 12.75p, at 416p, with analysts noting that its trading update could have been worse.

“This is the toughest time for pub operators in recent history,” Matthew Gerard, a leisure industry analyst at Investec, said. “With the smoking ban, consumer confidence and rising cost pressures, the company has a right to be downbeat.”

Mr Gerard said that, in light of the pressures, it would be a good result if the company could report flat profits over the winter period, as it expects. Investec has downgraded Enterprise's 2008 profit before tax forecast by 6percent to £283million.

Mr Gerard also noted that only about 40 per cent of the country's pubs were owned by listed companies and that others were likely to be struggling more because of weaker food menus and less buying muscle when negotiating beer purchases.

Brewers have been forced to raise prices in recent months as the cost of ingredients such as barley and hops has increased.

The South African company SABMiller said yesterday that underlying lager volumes in the last three months of 2007 had risen by only 4 per cent, well down on the 10 per cent rise a year before, and at the bottom of analysts' forecasts.

The world's second-biggest brewer and owner of the Miller and Peroni brands said that its price increases had offset high input costs.

SABMiller, which is bidding for the Dutch rival Grolsch, said that beer sales growth in China had slowed because of price rises and had been hit in Colombia by high interest rates.

However, sales growth rose in Russia and India, with beer becoming an increasingly popular drink. Volumes in both Europe and North America also grew.

Despite some volume growth, the overall sales slowdown triggered a selloff of the group's shares, which closed down 4.6 per cent, or 57p, at £11.87.

Analysts at Cazenove said that, although the group's beer sales had disappointed the market, it was from a high rate of previous growth and against tough comparisons.

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