Britain's leading nightclub operator, Luminar, warned that it could miss full-year profit projections as soaring rate of unemployment has been keeping people away from its clubs.

The company, which owns 89 clubs, said its overall sales plunged 5.9 per cent in the period of 26 weeks to August 27. Luminar blamed the high and rising level of unemployment among its core visitors of young people for its current poor performance. It is worth mentioning here that one in every six is out of work in among 18 to 24 year olds.

For the period of six months to August 27, Luminar witnessed a fall of 6.6 per cent in drink revenue. Group's admission revenue plunged 0.2 per cent, while footfall dipped by 2.9 per cent. Speaking his mind, analyst James Cooke said, "Nightclubs have very high fixed cost bases and need a high level of admissions to generate profitability."

Previous month, Luminar lifted £37.5 million via a rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet