Cheers and fears at Punch Taverns
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Punch Taverns toasted a World Cup sales boost yesterday but voiced fears about the impact of Government belt-tightening on nervous punters.
Britain's biggest pubs operator posted its first like-for-like sales growth since early 2009 across its managed pubs, helping sales declines for the 44 weeks to 26 June ease to 2.7 per cent against 3.4 per cent after 28 weeks.
But England crashed out of the World Cup a day after the end of the trading period, cutting short the sales cheer for landlords. Punch, which has more than 7,100 pubs, said it also remained cautious following the Budget.
However, plans to invest in 800 pubs across its tenanted estate by the year end are on track, and support to struggling landlords remains stable at £2m a month, although a squeeze on drinks margins has kept profits under pressure. Punch's net debt now stands at £3.2bn, helped by disposals set to generate £300m over the full year. The firm has reduced its debt by £664m since the start of the financial year.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments