Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,884.73
    +74.07 (+0.37%)
     
  • AIM

    743.26
    +1.15 (+0.15%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1716
    +0.0022 (+0.19%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2625
    +0.0003 (+0.03%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    55,405.91
    -626.43 (-1.12%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,205.81
    +1.00 (+0.01%)
     

Punch Taverns says breaches debt covenant

April 15 (Reuters) - Troubled British pub company Punch Taverns Plc said it breached a debt covenant related to Punch A, one of its two securitisation vehicles, in the quarter ended March 1.

The debt-laden company's shares were down 5.7 percent at 12.98 pence on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) at 1154 GMT on Tuesday.

Punch's debt structure is complex and split into two securitised vehicles. Punch A holds 1.45 billion pounds ($2.43 billion) of gross debt, while Punch B holds 884 million pounds.

The pub company had said earlier this month that it will convene a meeting on April 29 to seek covenant waivers from noteholders of the two securitisation vehicles. (http://link.reuters.com/ren58v)

ADVERTISEMENT

The waivers are necessary to prevent a default in payment, which in the case of Punch A may be as early as May 15.

Punch, like many pub owners, was hit hard by Britain's double-dip recession and is trying to reduce 2.3 billion pounds ($3.85 billion) of debt built up before the downturn.

The company, which has about 4,000 pubs, said on Tuesday pretax profit rose to 50 million pounds in the 28 weeks ended March 1 from 26 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue fell 4 percent to 233.5 million pounds.

Like-for-like net income up 1.4 percent in its core estate. ($1 = 0.5976 British Pounds) (Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das (Shenzhen: 002421.SZ - news) )