Punch Taverns could be poised to dispose of yet more pubs after announcing that a further 450 struggling properties are set to be transferred to its 'turnaround division'.

The company, which operates more than 8,000 pubs across Britain, set up the new 'turnaround division' in May to isolate around 1,250 of its underperforming properties, a third of which have since been offloaded. Punch's preliminary results for the 52 weeks to 22 August 2009 are due to be published in mid-October, which are expected to report a 1.4 per cent decline in like-for-like sales across its managed estate and a reduction in the company's net debt by more than £1bn.

In a statement, Punch Taverns said: "Trading conditions across the quarter have inevitably reflected the varied weather conditions experienced. While late June and early July benefited from good summer weather, the remainder of the summer has been unhelpful to trade, particularly the high level of rainfall seen in July." "While we are confident of the longer term prospects for the Group and our expectations for the full year remain unchanged, we remain cautious over the near-term due to the lack of forward visibility on trading outlook."