The wettest April on record was bad for pubs, Punch Taverns claimed today.
There was a “sharp decline in beer sales during this period and this is reflected in Punch sales”, the company said.
Like-for-like sales at the core estate, the ones the struggling company intends to keep, fell 6.4% in the 12 weeks to May 26. It has 1713 non-core boozers, of which it intends to sell up to 500 this year.
Chief executive Roger Whiteside was upbeat. “Notwithstanding recent difficult market conditions, the underlying business remains robust,” he said. Punch Taverns is the rump of the empire built up by former banker Giles Thorley into the biggest pubs company in Britain with more than 8000 pubs. Built on debt, it crashed once the credit crunch and the banking crisis began.
The City took some heart; despite the fall in sales Punch said that it will meet analysts’ profit forecasts for the year.
The shares rose 0.1p to 6.8p, leaving the company’s equity valued at £45 million. Whiteside added: “We have made a good start to the fourth quarter.”
