Admiral Taverns wiped £47.2m off its debt in the seven months to 31 May 2010 as it trimmed its estate by 11% and reported improved trading in its turnaround division.
Accounts filed at Companies House show the tenanted pub operator, which was incorporated in its new guise in October 2009 after a financial restructuring that saw Lloyds Bank write off around £600m of debt in return for a large stake in the business.
Admiral reported net debt on 31 March 2010 of £295.4m - a reduction of £47.2m in the seven months that followed the restructure.
Turnover for the period was £63m and operating profit stood at £17.6m, with the company owning 1,768 pubs at that moment having sold 217.
Admiral said: “Trading in the period to 31 May 2010 was challenging due to the recession suffered in the UK that lasted through much of the financial year. The group had experienced pressure on its income due to low levels of consumer spending combined with aggressive price discounting in the off-trade, principally by the major supermarket chains.
"The group operates a reasonable number of pubs that historically have traded at low levels of turnover. A combination of pressure on income, through economic uncertainty and increasing competition, and the burden of additional costs due to increase in alcohol duties and further legislative requirements have therefore resulted in a challenge to the group and its pub licensees alike.
"This has resulted in a continuing number of pub failures during the period within the estate. A number of these pubs have become uneconomic to re-open as the cost to let them is prohibitive.
"Of these, a proportion have been successfully marketed for sale and has contributed to the 11% reduction in pub numbers.
"Under the previous ultimate parent company, the operational management structure had been revised, such that the core estate pubs were managed independently from pubs that had either been identified for disposal or 'turnaround'.
"This strategy, which has been continued, has been a success with the turnaround enjoying a significant improvement in trading performance.
"It has enabled the core estate team to concentrate on building and building longer term partnerships with the group's licenses.
“As a consequence, the core estate, away from the distractions of the turnaround-related issues, performed well and traded in line with the directors’ expectations during the period."
The company returned 17 leasehold pubs to Punch Taverns in July 2010.
