| Mitchells & Butlers records higher net, announces buyback |
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LONDON: Pubs operator Mitchells & Butlers Plc. reported a 10.4 per cent rise in its annual pre-tax profits for the year ended 1 October 2005 at 192 million pounds.
The group, which runs the All Bar One and Harvester pubs, announced that it is also buying back shares worth 100 million pounds, in addition to the buyback of the same amount last year, even as it increased its final dividend to 7.55 pence for a total payout of 10.75 pence against 9.5 pence last year.
The company's turnover for the year was 1.66 billion pounds, up from 1.56 billion, with like-for-like increase at 4.8 per cent.
Chief executive Tim Clarke said the company is leading the growth of an expanding pub eating out segment with its food sales going up 9 per cent.
He said 90 per cent of the company's 1,831 applications for variations in operating hours under the new Licensing Act have been granted and on an average these pubs will have an extension of over one hour in the evening. He also disclosed that the company intends to move towards food-based non-smoking segment . Food is now the group's biggest selling product.
The company is understood to be in talks to buy some 500 of Spirit Group's pubs, which may be offered on sale by its prospective new owner Punch Taverns. It has also hinted that it is interested in a significant chunk of Whitbread’s pub-restaurant business in the event of a break-up of the leisure operator.
Clarke refused to comment on these prospects except saying that if value-enhancing opportunities came along, the company will look at them.
The company's finance director Karim Naffah said its 1.63-billion-pound debt was equivalent to about four times its 413 million pounds of ebitda, but the company can lift the debt to five times, affording scope to return a total of 400 million pounds to shareholders.
The company's shares fell 1.8 per cent to 382 pence Wednesday, giving it a market cap of around 1.9 billion pounds.
Posted
on : Thu, 01 Dec 2005 08:25 GMT | Banking News
By : Anne Philips
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