Pub chains Punch Taverns and Mitchells & Butlers are poised to join Britain’s most elite financial club, following the latest review of the FTSE-100 Index.
The index of Britain’s 100 biggest financial players is regularly updated and in the latest review, published last week, the two chains have moved on to what is known as the reserve list.
This means they are not yet in the 100 Index but should another company be deleted or drop off, perhaps through a management buy-out, merger, acquisition or other factor, they will automatically be moved up.
Punch, which is valued by the City at around £3bn, is number two on the list to move up and M&B, which also has a market capitalisation of £3bn, is one place behind.
The move is evidence not only of the financial strength of both operators, which reported pre-tax profits of £250m, up 21%, and £208m, up 10%, respectively last year, but also of the growing clout of the sector as a whole.
Other hospitality giants already in the 100 include Compass, Diageo, Enterprise Inns, InterContinental Hotels, Scottish & Newcastle and Whitbread.
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FTSE website >>
By Nic Paton
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