Punch Taverns reports slowing decline in like-for-like sales
Punch said profit performance is in line with management expectations.
The disposal programme is slightly ahead of target, achieving disposals proceeds of £55m in the half-year, above book value and at a multiple of 18 times EBITDA.; Punch’s aim is to realise £105m of net proceeds in the current financial year. In total 164 pubs were sold, with 21 from the core estate.
Punch said 94% of its core estate is now let, up from 91% at March 2012, and in line with its target of 93% to 95%. “The launch of the new partner recruitment website has been extremely well received having attracted c1,200 enquiries in the last three months, helping support a further 10% growth in applicant numbers.”
Membership of Punch’s Buying Club grew by one third in a year to 3,300. There were 270 core investments completed in the half at an average spend of about £100k per site. “The increased level of activity in pub investment seen in the final quarter of 2012 has continued into the first half of this year.
“This investment is transforming the customer offer in these pubs and the associated trading uplift is expected in the second half of the year. We also benefited from a shift towards food, which is now estimated to make up 25% of partner revenue across the core estate, up 2.4% pts from March 2012.”
Punch said it increased the size of its specialist field team support including the introduction of new franchise management and pub launch management teams.
“These teams provide dedicated support to help new partners launch their businesses in the best possible way. The feedback received from partners who have benefited from this new resource has been extremely positive and we are confident that increased support in this area will result in improved trading performance for both our partners and for Punch.”
Regarding the on-going review of its capital structure, Punch said: “Since announcing the restructuring proposal on 7 February 2013 we have made positive progress in engaging with the many stakeholders who will need to approve the restructuring proposal.
“On the basis of the ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, the board continues to believe that a consensual restructuring will be launched in the first half of 2013.”
Stephen Billingham, executive chairman, said: "Our profit performance for the first half of the year has been in line with management expectations, with improving trends in the underlying business.
“We have strong plans in place to return the core estate to growth in the medium-term. We expect to make further progress in the second half of the financial year and are on track to meet our full year profit expectations.
“We are encouraged by the progress we are making in our discussions with stakeholders on our capital restructuring proposal and believe a consensual restructuring can be launched in the first half of 2013."
