Punch pins hopes on summer of sport

PUNCH Taverns says it is on target to meet its full year profit expectations, believing it will see an uplift in trade this summer from the European Championships in football and the London Olympics.

Its interim management statement for the 12 weeks to March 3, the Burton pubco said like-for-like net income in its core estate of 2,946 pubs declined by 2.9% in the quarter (down 2.1% for the half year), impacted by softer trading after Christmas, with weaker beer volumes in the months of January and February.

The firm said decline in net income also continues to be driven by pubs which have been returned to it after failing and which are currently under temporary management. But the level of pub failures remains in line with last year and the majority of these pubs will receive investment to reposition their offering in their local marketplace, it said.

Roger Whiteside, Punch’s chief executive officer, said: “Punch has a clear operational plan to return the core estate to growth in the medium-term and extract maximum value from our non-core assets.

“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.”