Passionate about our pubs

Punch Taverns plc, the UK’s leading pub operator of over 8,400 leased, tenanted and managed pubs, today announces preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 18 August 2007.

Highlights

Financial Results (before exceptional items)

• Group revenue up 10% to £1,705 million (2006: £1,546 million)
• EBITDA up 9% to £664 million (2006: £606 million)
• Profit before tax up 13% to £282 million* (2006: £250 million)
• Basic earnings per share up 13% to 84.4p (2006: 74.9p)
• Proposed final dividend of 10.2p, bringing the total dividend for the year to 15.3p, representing an increase of 14% (2006: 13.4p)

Financial Results (after exceptional items)

• Profit before tax up 8% to £305 million (2006: £281 million)
• Basic earnings per share up 11% to 104.9p (2006: 94.9p)

Operational

• Continue to pursue the creation of the highest quality pub estate
  • Like for like pub contribution for the leased business increased 2.7%;  like for like sales for the core managed estate rose by 3.5%
  • Average profit per pub up by 11% in the leased business and up 15% in the managed business
  • 563 pubs transferred from managed to leased in the current year, following 74 completed in 2006
  • Disposal of 986 non-core smaller pubs;  178 pubs acquired (including 82 Mill House Inns)
  • Continued investment with £202 million spent on enhancing over 1,500 pubs across the estate
• Integration of acquired businesses completed and synergies extracted
• Matthew Clark joint venture further expands Group capabilities and retailer support
• Completion of £825 million refinancing in July at an effective rate of 6.4%, ahead of current debt market tightening

*  Inclusive of profit on disposal of non-current assets of £3.0 million (2006:  £1.4 million) 

Giles Thorley, Chief Executive of Punch Taverns plc, commented
 
“This has been a year of intense activity, significant operational change and business improvement for the Group.  We are continuing to further improve the quality of our estate whilst maintaining the robust nature of the business model.  We are pleased to have once again delivered a strong set of results despite the challenges of the last quarter of the year.

“The completion of our integration programme leaves us in our best ever shape from which to further develop the business and capitalise on the opportunities open to us.  Whilst the sector is experiencing a degree of uncertainty and is not without its short term challenges, we remain confident about the long term future prospects for the business.”

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