Food sales at Marston’s lift December 3, 2009 BREWER and pub operator Marston’s yesterday said that profits had continued to fall despite a surge in demand for cask ales and pub food. Marston’s, which owns 2,200 UK pubs including the Pitcher & Piano chain, reported pre-tax profits of £70.3m for the year ended 3 October 2009, down 13.5 per cent on the year [...]
Sales jump at Whitbread December 14, 2009 PUB and hotel group Whitbread yesterday posted higher sales thanks to price-cutting, but forecast a “long slow haul” out of the slump. The owner of Costa Coffee, Beefeater and Brewer’s Fayre pub restaurants and Premier Inn budget hotels boosted like-for-like sales 0.3 per cent in the third quarter to November 26, with total sales up 6.7 [...]
HOW THE AGREEMENT AFFECTS THE CITY May 20, 2010 BANKING • The coalition has agreed to impose some kind of levy on the banking industry, although its exact form has yet to be decided. The Tories want to introduce a fee on banks’ wholesale funding, while the Liberal Democrats would prefer a tax on profits. • There is a vague commitment to tackle “unacceptable [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 12, 2010 GREENE KING Collins Stewart believes Greene King is under valued and recommends investors “buy”. It says both growth and resilience are built into its business model and thinks its estimates are achievable. The availability of efficient debt allows the pub company continued investment when other firms are likely to struggle, it says. SABMILLER Evolution Securities [...]
Tories to introduce new booze labels and scrap units system January 13, 2010 A TORY government would introduce legislation forcing brewers to display the exact amount of alcohol on drink labels. Shadow secretary of state for health Andrew Lansley said the “misunderstood units” system would be replaced by new labels detailing the amount of pure alcohol in centilitres on drink cans and bottles. The new labels would also [...]
M&B appoints Joe Lewis man to board of directors January 4, 2010 MITCHELLS & Butlers (M&B), the pub and restaurant group, said yesterday it will appoint Ronald Robson, a representative of rebel shareholder Joe Lewis, to its board from 22 January. The appointment will need to be ratified by shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on 28 January, it added. Lewis’s investment vehicle, Piedmont, which is [...]
Lewis gets his way at M&B as Laffin goes January 28, 2010 THE scene was set for a venomous Mitchells and Butlers board meeting yesterday – and the key players did not deviate from the script. Simon Laffin, the chairman, knew his time at the helm of the pub chain was up. Sympathetic cheers from the swathes of minority shareholders packed into the ICC Birmingham would have [...]
NEWSPAPER VETERAN APPROACHES GUARDIAN WITH A HEAVY HAND March 24, 2010 HEATED words in the media world yesterday after Carolyn McCall’s abrupt defection from the helm of Guardian Media Group to easyJet. Some say McCall won’t be too sorely missed by her former charges at the Guardian, given the messy state of the group’s finances and her recent controversial decision to sell the Manchester Evening News. [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF January 20, 2010 Thai property scrap escalates A fight to control Thailand property assets co-owned by Lehman Brothers has spiralled, with HSBC and Aberdeen Asset Management joining the fray. Thai police have issued warrants against the pair in relation to their roles administering collateral or assets on behalf of Lehman. The move will further hamper the complex task [...]
Geronimo snaps up six pubs from Punch Taverns July 13, 2009 LONDON pub operator Geronimo Inns yesterday snapped up six sites from heavily indebted Punch Taverns for an undisclosed sum. Geronimo Inns, backed by private equity firm Penta Capital, said it plans “a significant capital expenditure programme of £1.5m,” and around 70 jobs would be created as a result of the deal. The six pubs, currently [...]