Company in the news: Enterprise Inns

This pub group was a classic distressed investment, says Phil Oakley. But now things are looking up, could the shares be worth a punt?

This pub group was a classic distressed investment. The victim of debt-fuelled financial engineering, it was written off by many. True, its £750m market value is still dwarfed by its £2.5bn debts. Yet anyone who bought the shares a year ago did very well. They are up nearly 160%, rallying 40% in July alone.

Dismal winter weather and the absence of the Jubilee and the European football championship battered business this year. But trading looks to have picked up in recent weeks. Profits will still be down on 2012, but the outlook for the next financial year is better.

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Phil spent 13 years as an investment analyst for both stockbroking and fund management companies.

 

After graduating with a MSc in International Banking, Economics & Finance from Liverpool Business School in 1996, Phil went to work for BWD Rensburg, a Liverpool based investment manager. In 2001, he joined ABN AMRO as a transport analyst. After a brief spell as a food retail analyst, he spent five years with ABN's very successful UK Smaller Companies team where he covered engineering, transport and support services stocks.

 

In 2007, Phil joined Halbis Capital Management as a European equities analyst. He began writing for MoneyWeek in 2010.