20th Apr 2016 07:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Punch Taverns PLC on Wednesday reported a huge drop in profit in the first half of its financial year and lower revenue following a reduction in the size of its pub estate as it continues with its non-core property disposal programme.
The pub operator said its pretax profit in the 28 weeks ended March 5 dropped to GBP54.7 million from GBP348.5 million the year before, as revenue fell to GBP212.9 million from GBP221.7 million.
Average profit per pub across the entire estate grew by 3.0%, benefiting from the disposal of non-core pubs, while the core pub estate delivered like-for-like net income growth of 1.6%.
Overall revenue and profit, however, were hit by an 8.4% reduction in the size of the estate through Punch's strategic disposal programme, which aims to sell the non-core estate at a rate of around 200 pubs per year.
"We are already making good progress delivering on the strategy we set out in November 2015. We have launched new operating models, renewed our focus on customer service and delivered improved support to our publicans," Chief Executive Duncan Garrood said in a statement.
"The combination of our growing cash balances, strong cash flow and limited scheduled amortisation over the next five years puts the group in a stronger financial position going forward," he added.
Shares in Punch were untraded early Wednesday, having last traded at 97.00 pence.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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