THE leased pubs arm of Burton-based pubco Punch Taverns has seen EBITDA declines, the company reports today.
In an interim management statement for the 16 weeks to December 11, 2010, the firm reports that total leased estate like-for-like EBITDA declined by 8.7%, core estate EBITDA dropped 7.3%, non-core estate EBITDA was down 21.8% and average EBITDA per pub declined by 1.7%.
The statement also said that improved trading momentum in Q4 had continued and that the firm was on track to meet its full-year expectations.
Like-for-like sales had grown 2.2%, it said, with drinks sales up 1.7% and food sales growth 2.6%.
The statement said: “Our sales performance has continued to progress well, despite a circa 1% impact from weather-affected trading over the last two weeks of the reported period.
“Our pub investment programme continues apace with 92 refurbishments completed in the period, delivering returns in line with our expectations.
“We have focused our activities on accelerating the refurbishment of our Chef and Brewer and Fayre and Square formats where guest feedback has been particularly strong.
“The average EBITDA per pub declined by 1.7%, reflecting disposals within the non-core estate.
“Financial support for our partners has stabilised at just under £2m per month, having been at this level for more than 12 months.”
Chief executive Ian Dyson said: “The actions taken to strengthen both the leased and managed businesses have resulted in an improved trading performance in the first 16 weeks of the financial year.
“We are now looking to build on this momentum by focusing on further operational improvement across the business.”
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