What the Sunday papers said
The Sunday Times
Scottish brewer Belhaven is expected to report record results this week that will exceed consensus estimates of a £9m pre-tax profit. It will also confirm a five-year lager supply and distribution deal with Tennent Caledonian Breweries worth a minimum of £70m. The latter will supply Tennent's Lager and Stella Artois.
Jubilee celebrations triggered heavy cash-machine usage. On May 30, revellers made 7.6m transactions and withdrew more than £322m, the second-highest figure on record. Over the four days £1.2bn was withdrawn.
The Business
The expected shopping bonanza over the Jubilee weekend was a damp squib according to retail research firm Footfall. The four-day holiday, throughout which most supermarkets and department stores stayed open, generated two per cent less traffic than the four-day Easter weekend - the other big highlight in the retail calendar.
British earnings from overseas visitors plummeted £2bn over the 12 months to April, as the foot and mouth epidemic and the effects of September 11 terrorist attacks took their toll on the tourism industry. The number of visitors fell eight per cent to 22.7m from 24.8m. Earnings from overseas visitors fell 17 per cent to £10.5bn.
Retail confidence in Britain slumped last month according to the British Retail Consortium. The retail confidence indicator (RCI), set from four factors - retail sales, retail profits, consumer confidence and investor confidence, dropped by 9.2 per cent in May.
No stopping house prices in the UK: they surged by a record 4.2 per cent last month, according to the Halifax, the building society turned bank, which is now part of HBoS.
The Observer
The Premier League has threatened to set up its own subscription television channel if broadcasters do not offer enough money to screen its football games when the rights are next sold.
Football league clubs are turning to gambling to stave off bankruptcy. Up to 20 clubs are in talks with gaming operators about opening casinos within their grounds. The collapse of the Nationwide League's television deal with ITV Digital has given a sense of urgency to talks with major gaming firms such as Gala Group and Stanley Leisure.
The Mail on Sunday
Almost half of all households will not be able to receive digital TV when the analogue signal is switched off in 2010, the Independent Television Commission says. The findings are a blow to government plans for a full digital TV conversion and add to the gloom surrounding the future of digital TV after the collapse of ITV Digital.
The Sunday Telegraph
Diageo has increased its number of non-executive directors to eight with the appointment of Paul Walker, chief executive of the Sage Group.
The Independent on Sunday
No industry-related news
The Weekend FT
No industry-related news
