Punch Taverns have made pre-tax profit of £50 million, which according to the company is on track to meet their full year profit expectations. In the interim results for the 28 weeks to 1 March 2014, Punch reported that average profit per pub was up 4% over the estate of 3,956 pubs. Punch also announced that they are on target to meet their annual business plan, with like-for-like income up 1.4%. Talks over the restructuring of their debt continue.
Stephen Billingham, Executive Chairman of Punch Taverns plc, commented:??“We have delivered profits for the half year in line with our expectations.
Our results reflect the significant operational changes we have made over the last 15 months which are now embedded in the business. We have returned the core estate to growth and delivered a 4% improvement in average profit per pub across our 4,000 pub estate.
We are on track to deliver our full year profit expectations and start the second half of the year backed by the increased level of Partner operational support that will further strengthen the performance of our pubs.
Proactive engagement on the restructuring discussions is continuing and we urge all stakeholders to support the covenant waiver requests to provide the business with stability and time to effect a consensual restructuring of the Group’s financing arrangements.”