Britvic refinance: good news for pubs

A leading leisure analyst has described the news of Britvic's successful refinancing as positive news for pub groups and further evidence that banks are gradually reopening for business.

Geof Collyer, of Deutsche Bank, forecast that shares in Enterprise Inns, JD Wetherspoon and Mitchells & Butlers would all benefit from Britvic effectively extending its 2010 facilities to 2012.

Collyer said if Enterprise Inns, which has a bank facility set to mature in May 2011, could achieve the same terms as Britvic then there would be no need to downgrade forecasts.

Shares in JD Wetherspoon, currently in discussions with its banks about its short-term debt, which could be called in in September 2009 and next year, would also benefit, although to a lesser extent than Enterprise.

Collyer said that the news should also be seen as positive for M&B. However, he expected any terms for both M&B and Enterprise to include property and possibly pay-down agreements, as their existing banking facilities were above the 3.5x debt to ebitda level of Britvic.