Luminar, the nightclub operator, has warned that its results for the year to 26 February will be lower than previously projected.

The company – owner of the Oceana, Liquid and Lava & Ignite nightclub brands – saw a 3.2 per cent increase in admissions in its dancing division on its main nights, but experienced a fall in spend per head.

Outside key trading nights and before Christmas, admissions were down on the year before.

As a result, Luminar has opted to scale back the planned further capital expenditure for the year ending 2010 from £35m to £15m.

Market expectations for full year pretax profit currently range between £20.5 and £29m, with the consensus at £26.2m according to a Reuters estimates poll. Shares fell over 15 per cent as the news was announced.