Well, sort of.
From Punch Taverns on Monday morning. Emphasis ours:
The board of Punch Taverns plc (”Punch” or the “Company”) today announces: an intention to raise approximately £350 million by means of a Firm Placing and a Placing and Open Offer of New Ordinary Shares;
Speaking of the announcements today, Giles Thorley, Punch Taverns’ Chief Executive said: “Today’s announcements are a clear sign to the market, our partners, our customers and our employees of Punch’s ability and determination to move beyond the current challenging market conditions, to focus on fundamentals and continue to drive operational change through the business to deliver long term shareholder value. We are grateful to our shareholders for the support that they have shown.”
Of course, one could look at things another way. The proceeds from the placing and open offer, which will be used to pay off a convertible bond and repurchase securitisation notes, represent just 8% of Punch’s debt of £4.46bn. Post fundraising, its net debt/EBITDA ratio will still be an eye-watering 7 times (down from 7.7).
But let’s not be ungracious. We should applaud the fact that Punch has secured a stay of execution and moved from being a Toxic Pub Company to a merely a Zombie Pub Company.
Its shares were down 23.5p at 125p during early trade on Monday - a fall of 16 per cent.
And, over the longer term…
