Punch Taverns offloads pubs worth £91m

29th April 2009, 11:31am

Punch Taverns, the pub company, has said today that disposals of “largely non-core assets” are worth £91 million, as it posted losses of £122 million.

Despite this drop, the company said the results, for the 28 weeks ending 7th March 2009, are still in line with management expectations.

Punch said its priorities for 2009 are to strengthen operational management teams, stabilise operating performance, improve cash flow and further reduce debt levels.

Giles Thorley, chief executive of Punch Taverns said: "While we have seen a modest improvement in our performance since the half year, the weak UK consumer environment is likely to persist throughout the remainder of the year.

"Consequently, we remain very cautious over near-term trading prospects and we will continue to focus on taking prudent steps to further strengthen our balance sheet.

"During these challenging times we believe that arguments put forward by some that the beer tie is the cause of the problems facing the industry is a divisive, non-productive distraction from the core underlying issues and ignores the impact of the recession, tax and regulation on small businesses like pubs.

"We have made good progress in divesting of non-core assets and using the proceeds to pay down debt. While we continue to look at further opportunities to progress this strategy, we will only do so where such actions are accretive to earnings or are in the best interest of shareholders."

Related Articles:

• 07 Dec 2011 - Punch Taverns pub company raises almost £5.5k for Movember
• 21 Sep 2011 - Over 250 Punch pubs make CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2012
• 30 Jun 2011 - New board appointments at Punch Taverns
• 25 Jan 2011 - People moves at Punch Taverns pub company
• 14 Oct 2009 - Punch Taverns remain cautious
• 25 Aug 2009 - Punch blames poor trading on lack of sunshine
• 16 Jun 2009 - Punch Taverns remain 'very cautious'
• 15 May 2009 - Corkin wine prices at Punch pubs
• 14 May 2009 - Unite supports pub beer supply investigation
• 13 May 2009 - MPs call for inquiry into 'beer tie' activity
• 08 May 2009 - Shepherd Neame acquires 13 Punch pubs
• 06 Apr 2009 - Peach buys Punch pubs
• 27 Mar 2009 - Punch Taverns sells six of its pubs to Fuller's
• 10 Feb 2009 - Why pubs still have room to grow
• 05 Feb 2009 - Commercial director at Punch Taverns steps down
• 15 Jan 2009 - Punch unveils more bad news

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