Tue 19th Nov 2013 - Breaking News - Admiral reports £7.4m PBT in five-month period Admiral Taverns reports £7,410,000 profit before tax in five months: Admiral Taverns, the operator of 1,030 tenanted pubs has reported a pre-tax profit of £7,410,000 and turnover of £36,426,000 in the five 23 weeks after its acquisition by Cerberus. The company has also reported that £90m of debt provided by Cerberus on acquisition of the company was successfully refinanced in June. Chairman Jonathan Paveley said: “The five month period in question represents the new Admiral after the successful exit of Lloyds Banking Group and its replacement by Cerberus. Other than a change of ownership and the format of a new holding structure nothing has changed – the ethos, management team and business model remain as was and our licensees, employees and customers have noticed little difference. This continuity of approach is very important to us because operating 1,000 independent businesses, and improving their retail offers, takes a consistent approach applied over years – not weeks or months. Every pub and every licensee to whom it is let, is an individual serving a different local market, and we can only improve a pub’s business by providing advice, business-enhancing support services and investment capital. And the medium through which these things are translated into action is trust – trust between the licensee and ourselves. Such trust goes well beyond symbiotic self-interest and takes time to develop and only moments to lose. To earn our licensees’ trust and confidence, the terms on which we let our pubs must be fair, our support diligent and our ethos open. So consistency of approach, personnel, and ethos are essential if we are to improve the trading success of our businesses.” Paveley reported a survey of 200 Admiral licensees at the start of this year found 70% of them would “actively recommend someone taking a pub with us”, a “peer-group leading result comparable to those enjoyed by the traditional family brewers”. He added that “enquiries and applications from prospective licensees have climbed to record levels, double those of 2012 as our reputation for fair dealing and active support continues to grow”. On the five months of trading reported by Admiral, he said that progress was “testament to the solid foundations laid down by the company over recent years and the hard work and dedication of licensees and employees” given the very inclement weather and economic conditions. On the regulatory regime, Paveley said the Government “threatens potentially disastrous statutory regulation”. He added: “Some of the measures contemplated could financially compromise some of the pub companies, adversely affect route-to-market access for small and regional brewers and threaten the existence of thousands of pubs.” Paveley argued that the industry had developed the “most comprehensive self-regulatory framework in British business”. Paveley reported that Admiral’s new financial year had started well. “We will not take short cuts, but will continue to invest for the long term, recognizing that is the way to sustainable success for both us and our licensees,” he added. Underlying Ebitda was £10,431,000 and underlying Ebitda margin was 28.6%. The company sold 66 pubs during the period and anticipates a further 12 to 18 months of disposals. A total of 38%, or £33.2m, of group turnover was paid in tax in the 53 weeks ending 1 June 2013. A total of 86% of Admiral pubs are on substantive agreements, an increase of 6% in a year. Trading in the first 13 weeks of the new financial year has been “ahead of expectations” assisted by improved weather.