Stonegate - comment

The strong LfL growth we had already seen from players such as Mitchell and Butlers the other day was also reflected at Stonegate. However, it was not enough to lift the Managed business anywhere near profit. As such, the Q425 £113m IFRS 16 EBITDA was right on model, WC inflow was lower than we thought, but offset by higher proceeds from Pub sales. CapEx was extremely low at only £-20m, down from a quarterly run-rate of £-38m so far this year, and the interest burden was £10m lighter than expected, resulting in an overall better cash generation of £17m. We note that the Stonegate RCF was drawn by another £60m, which drove the end-of-year cash balance to a surprisingly high £160m. The presentation makes no mention of the Platinum sale, and we are looking forward to the call this afternoon.