Some of the better Scottish pubs improved their trade

But chief executive Ted Tuppen denied that the sale was because of a dip in trade of 1%-2% in Scotland after March's smoking ban was introduced.

"We didn't sell the Scottish estate for anything other than strategic reasons," he told the Reuters news agency.

The news came as Enterprise announced an 8.6% rise in annual profit to �315m.

'Poorer' pubs hit

Mr Tuppen said the Scottish pubs industry had "many different characteristics" to the market in England and Wales.

"Compared to the rest of England and Wales, trading was down 1 to 2% as a result of the smoking ban, but some of the better quality pubs actually improved their trade," he added.

"The poorer wet-led (drinks focused) pubs were the ones that suffered," he said.

"Some of them were suffering 5 or 10% drops in trade at the poorer wet-led end, where they had a predominantly smoking clientele."