Punch Taverns has advised its Interim Results for the 28 weeks to 7 March 2015 with Stephen Billingham, Executive Chairman of Punch Taverns plc, commenting:
“We have delivered profits for the half year in line with our expectations and are on track to meet full year underlying EBITDA guidance of between £193 million and £200 million.
“Group debt has materially reduced following the completion of the capital restructuring on 8 October 2014 and we have delivered strong cash flow generation during the first half. All of our debt is long-term securitised debt with no short-term bank debt and we have a clear path to further debt reduction.
“I am delighted that Duncan Garrood will be joining Punch as Chief Executive Officer in June. Duncan is joining an experienced management team and Duncan’s retail and franchise background will be of great value to Punch’s future development.”
Performance in line with expectations
- EBITDA of £105 million (2014: £108 million); reiterated full year underlying EBITDA guidance of between £193 million and £200 million
- Core estate accounted for 90% of outlet EBITDA
- Core estate like-for-like net income growth of 0.5%
- Disposal programme ahead of target with £57 million of proceeds; full year guidance revised up to £80 million
Capital restructuring successfully completed
- £0.6 billion reduction in net debt; leverage reduced to 7.3 times (August 2014: 9.5 times)
- £1.5 billion of securitised debt, secured against largely freehold pub estate valued during August 2014 at £2.1 billion
Further debt reduction
- Net debt reduced by £53 million since the 8 October capital restructuring
- On track to meet £200 million deleveraging target over next three years
Outlook
- On-track to meet full year profit and cash guidance
- Actions have already begun to provide a more flexible business model in light of the anticipated introduction of the Market Rent Only option (MRO) in 2016
- CEO appointed and will join the business in June
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