Warm weather through April has given beer sales a boost at Suffolk brewer Adnams, the firm said today.

Its beer sales for April were 'well ahead of 2010 by 3.1pc at the end of the April, having been 1.5pc ahead at the end of the first quarter', said the Southwold-based firm.

'The notably good weather that we enjoyed in April will inevitably have brought some improvement,' it said, following its annual general meeting on Thursday.

The brighter news follows a cautious outlook issued by Adnams after announcing its 2010 accounts last month. It said tax increases and public sector cutbacks could not be positive for business in the short term.

The wider beer industry statistics had also shown that volumes had continued to decline.

Beer sales fell by 3.8pc in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, according to figures from the British Beer and Pub Association.

But it said the decline of sales in pubs slowed, following an 8.8pc fall in the same period in 2010 - the lowest first quarter decline since 2005.

However, Adnams said: 'Our directly delivered beer business continues to show good growth, but sales to the large leased and tenanted pub estates have been under considerable pressure.'

But it added: 'Our sales of bottled and canned beers for the take home market have also shown growth, after a disappointing performance in 2010. Despite the pressure on the retail sector in the UK, our Cellar & Kitchen stores have had a fairly encouraging first four months.

'Trading was quite tough in February and March, but has been much stronger in April, undoubtedly the improved weather has played a part in this.

'Our hotels too have performed reasonably well in the first four months. Some of this is attributable to the move from managing properties in our own name to managing under contract.

'Tenanted pubs have not had an easy time of late, though the first quarter of 2011 has been less harsh than some.

'We believe that 2011 will be a challenging year, but our long-term forward-looking approach will continue to serve us well.'

The firm posted sales of �50.9m during 2010, a slight drop from �51.3m in 2009. Operating profits were largely maintained at �3.1m, down just slightly from �3.2m in 2009.

Adnams owns 70 pubs in East Anglia and London, ten Cellar & Kitchen stores and its beer brands include Adnams Bitter, Broadside, Explorer and Spindrift, employing about 370 people.