'Chancellor planning above-inflation price hike for beer'

Alistair Darling is preparing above-inflation price-rises for beer, wine and spirits in his first Budget, in an attempt to tackle widespread alcohol abuse, it emerged last night. However, he will not copy Tory proposals to cut levels of binge-drinking among young people through targeted tax rises on "problem drinks", including alcopops and super-strength ciders. - Independent On Sunday​

Big brewers such as Scottish & Newcastle and Greene King are assuming price rises this year of 25 per cent for malted barley, 150 per cent for hops, 50 per cent for apples, 20 per cent for glass bottles and the same for aluminium cans. Their input costs have already soared in the past three years - wheat by 123 per cent since 2004, hops by 294 per cent and barley by 182 per cent over the same period. - Sunday Telegraph​

Four pubs shut down every day due to plunging beer sales last year. New research by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) shows 1,567 pubs closed in 2007, up from 1,320 the previous year. Increasing costs, cheap supermarket booze and the smoking ban are all blamed. CAMRA is now urging Chancellor Alistair Darling to cut beer duty by 1p in Wednesday's Budget to save pubs. - Sunday Mirror​

Punch Taverns has held secret talks with Blackstone and CVC about the private equity giants taking a stake in the pubs group in return for cash to help sweeten Punch's £4bn merger plan for rival Mitchells & Butlers. Punch chief executive Giles Thorley is prepared to offer up to a 10 per cent stake in his group in return for nearly £200m, which would add serious firepower to his current shares-and-cash offer for M&B. It is thought the deal would involve the two private equity firms lending Punch the cash in the form of a convertible loan, which would enable the pair to convert the value of the loan into shares in Punch at a later date. - Mail On Sunday​

Since the beginning of the year, directors at AIM-listed Capital Pub Company have raised their stakes three times. Despite buoyant first-half figures released in November, shares in the company, which operates an estate of more than 20 pubs in and around London, have fallen from 162p in September to a low of 110p last month. With the closed period for director dealings looming, the purchases totalling £75,000 by chairman James Bruxner and co-founder Clive Watson could be seen as a signal that the figures for the full year won't disappoint investors. - Scotland On Sunday​

The Irish government seems to be preparing to restrict the availability of alcohol. The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that below cost selling, supermarket special offers, and cheap drink promotions will all be reined in. The government's Alcohol Advisory Group is expected to recommend a series of measures to scale back the liberal laws on alcohol at the moment. The current availability is being blamed for an increase in street violence. - Belfast Telegraph​