Punch blames poor April weather for net income drop
Punch Taverns has blamed poor weather in April for a drop in like-for-like net income of -6.4% in its core estate of 2,942 pubs for the 12 weeks to 26 May.
The company said that third quarter trading in 2011 enjoyed good weather and the additional Royal Wedding bank holiday, making for strong comparatives for trading in the third quarter of 2012. And its job was made even tougher by this year's wet weather.
But despite the impact of the weather Punch said the underlying performance in the business was robust, with like-for-like net income in pubs on full substantive agreements down just 1% over the 40 weeks to 26 May 2012.
And in contrast to the third quarter, it saw an uplift in sales in the first four weeks of the fourth quarter, which included the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend and the start of the UEFA European football championship.
Meanwhile, the company said it was still on track to dispose of 400-500 pubs from its non-core estate of 1,713 pubs. During the first 40 weeks of this financial year it sold 349 pubs together with other assets for £95m.
Roger Whiteside, chief executive of Punch Taverns, said: "Having worked hard to contain costs, we remain on track to meet management's full year profit expectations. Our anticipation of a difficult third quarter, because of strong comparatives last year, has been compounded by the exceptional wet weather this year. Encouragingly, we have made a good start to our fourth quarter and notwithstanding recent difficult market conditions, the underlying business remains robust."
Punch Taverns reports 20% drop in first-half profits >>
By Neil Gerrard
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