City briefs
- Hampshire brewer Gales has appointed a new chairman. Charles Brims, a non-executive since 1995, will assume the role from George Bowyer, whose family bought the brewery in 1896. Mr Brims (pictured) has previously held positions with Courage and also as chief executive of Portsmouth and Sunderland Newspapers.
Eldridge Pope chairman Christopher Pope told shareholders this week that trading showed no signs of improving. He said the first half of the year would be significantly weaker than the comparative period a year ago. Eldridge will restrict capital expenditure to £8.7m this year. The £8.9m proceeds from the sale of the Dorchester head office site will be used to pay down debt. Shareholders have agreed to a share buyback proposal.
SABMiller has agreed to buy Polish brewer Browar Dojlidy for £22m. Dojlidy has one brewery located in Bialystak in the north east of Poland, 120 miles from Warsaw. Dojlidy's main brands include Zubr, Classic and Zlote. SABMiller has also announced the sale of its Just Juice and Valpre water brands to Coca-Cola for £8m.
Shares in Allied Domecq tumbled this week after the drinks giant warned that its profits would be hurt by problems in Spain and one-off pension and foreign exchange costs. Allied shareholders have expressed concerns over directors' pay after chief executive Philip Bowman last year collected £1.6m.
Meanwhile, the Punch annual report shows that chief executive Giles Thorley was last year paid a total of £388,000 including a £150,000 bonus. Mr Thorley hold options on 5,901,230 shares at an exercise price of 198p. Punch shares currently stand at 178p. The outgoing chief executive Stephen Lambert collected £292,000.
