Latest accounts for Barracuda Group, the pub group led by Mark McQuater, indicate that it is still carrying net debt equivalent to at least eight times annual EBITDA.
Following a restructuring of the business last summer, the group posted figures for the 11 weeks to 26 September 2009, revealing sales of £33.09m, indicating current run-rate annual sales just shy of £160m.
The accounts did not reveal the cost of restructuring the business — a process that saw private equity group Charterhouse reduced to a minority shareholder — although during the 11-week period it incurred £21.3m in administrative costs, a combination of depreciation costs and other unknown expenses. Operating profit was £1.9m although at a pre-tax level the group produced a loss of £0.3m
The private company did not divulge the full cost of last year's restructuring, which saw Barracuda reduce its debts by £87.4m.