Cautious forecast from Punch boss

Punch Taverns has revealed that like-for-like income in its core estate of 2,946 pubs fell 2.9% in the second quarter. Its non-core pubs, saw like-for-like net income drop to 10.2%. The company did say it remained on track to meet full-year profit expectations.The decline in net income was apparently driven by pubs which had been returned to Punch after failing and were under temporary management. Pubs in the south of England did better, and average net income across the estate inched up 0.8%.
Roger Whiteside, the chief executive, commented, “Profitability in the first 28 weeks of the financial year has been broadly in line with management expectations. While we remain cautious on the near-term consumer environment, we have strong plans in place and expect to benefit from the Queen’s diamond jubilee, the Uefa European football championship and the Olympic Games in the second half of the year. In the current difficult climate we have worked hard to contain costs and as a result we remain on track to meet our full-year profit expectations.”