Financial Performance *

• EBITDA* of £422 million (2009: £514 million)
• Profit before tax of £131 million (2009: £160 million)
• Disposal proceeds of £299 million comprised largely of non-core assets - achieved at an average multiple of 16x EBITDA
• Basic earnings per share of 14.4p

Statutory Results (after exceptional items) **

• Loss after exceptional items of £160 million following a net exceptional charge of £253 million.  All of the exceptional charges were non-cash except for £2 million of reorganisation charges
• Exceptional items include a £218 million charge for pub impairments to appropriately value the non-core estate
• Basic loss per share after exceptional items of 24.9p
• Net Asset Value per share of 229p

Capital Structure

• Net debt reduced by £322 million (9%) to £3,143 million
• Outstanding securitised debt has a 17 year average maturity and weighted average cost of 6.8%
• Debt repayments and management actions to date have helped maintain headroom against financial covenants

Current Trading

• Improved trading momentum delivered in the final quarter of the financial year has continued into the early weeks of the new financial year

Ian Dyson, Chief Executive Officer of Punch Taverns plc, commented
 
“I am delighted to have joined Punch and to have the opportunity to build on the progress made over the last year. While we have been encouraged by more recent trends in both the leased and managed businesses, the economic environment is very difficult and there remains room for improvement across all aspects of our business.  I have started a comprehensive review of our strategy, operating performance and capital structure with a view to exploring options to create value for our shareholders”

*    before exceptional items
** full analysis of exceptional items are shown in note 3 to the Financial Statements