Debt reduction measures successful says Punch

AFTER a turbulent year characterised by a long running restructuring, Staffordshire pubco Punch Taverns has revealed it has shaved more than £50m off its bet debt levels.

The announcement came in the company’s half-year results, which the company said were in line with expectations. The company has also said it was on track to meet full year underlying EBITDA guidance of between £193m and £200m.

Stephen Billingham, executive chairman of Punch Taverns, said: “Group debt has materially reduced following the completion of the capital restructuring on October 8, 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.”

The actual net debt reduction is £53m.

The company had warned shareholders last year that unless it implemented the restructuring then it risked defaulting on its loans.

In the 28 weeks to Match 7, 2015, revenue from the core estate amounted to £195m, with the non-core pubs delivering £27m. EBITDA was £107m on the core side and £12, from the non-core operations.

However, the company has warned against a tough second half due to strong comparables against last year due to the Brazil World Cup.

Looking ahead, it said: “The second half of 2015 is up against strong comparatives from the favourable weather and the World Cup in 2014.  We therefore expect this to adversely impact like-for-like comparisons in the second half of the year.

“Over the last few years we have improved the fundamentals of our business and this will allow us to both drive forward the existing business model but also provide the building blocks to respond to the challenge presented by changes in the regulatory environment.”

Elsewhere, it said its disposal programme was ahead of target at £57m – full year target is £80m.