What the Sunday papers said
The Mail on Sunday
- CI Traders, the Channel-Island based retail group is poised to launch a hostile bid for pub group Eldridge Pope. Click here to read more on thePublican.com.
As reported on thePublican.com last week, Mitchells & Butlers is expected to fall prey to a takeover bid now it has been forced out of the running for the £2.3bn Scottish & Newcastle managed pub estate. Click here to read more on thePublican.com.
National Grid could be fined up to £1bn after the massive power cut that brought London to a standstill last week.
The Sunday Times
- Some observers are wondering if WestLB Panmure's recent research note on pub group Mitchells & Butlers was a case of "recommendation revenge". The analysts' parent company is no longer broker to M&B. In its note, analysts said: "The key problem for us is that M&B's management has yet to prove it can deliver shareholder value from its existing business let alone integrate an acquisition the size of Scottish & Newcastle.
French wine is in crisis: Under the relentless assault of this summer's heatwave grapes have been withering on the vine.
Junk food companies like McDonald's might be banned from advertising to children under radical plans being considered to tackle the UK's growing obesity crisis.
The chancellor is preparing to put the brakes on public sector spending, underlining the crisis in the public finances that is likely to lead to tax rises.
The Sunday Telegraph
- Drinks giant Allied Domecq is considering a bid for Peter Lehmann Wines after the Australian producer received an offer from rival drinks maker Hess Group of Switzerland.
Motorists stopped and snatched thousands of cans of Miller lager after a lorry shed its load on the A77 near Ballantrae, in South Ayrshire, when it jack-knifed as it swerved to miss a deer in the dark.
Quote of the week: "We certainly don't encourage binge drinking," said Peter Long, boss of tour operator First Choice, whose brochures boast that Turkey is great for "shopaholics and alcoholics" and that in Majorca there is "no time for thinking" because "we're here for the drinking".
The Sunday Express
- Shares in SABMiller, the South African brewer listed on the London Stock Exchange, are set to tumble when its late-September trading statement reveals catastrophic US sales.
The Independent on Sunday
- A host of drinks producers and leisure groups will update the market this week. Drinks giant Diageo will issue results as will JD Wetherspoon and Regent Inns while Allied Domecq and Whitbread will release trading updates.
The Observer
No industry-related news
The Business
- Slow grow has dented investors' faith in Diageo, the global drinks business. It is viewed as the best performer amongst its peers "however, even the best business models cannot continue to take all the strain from the recent negative issues affecting global industry," said one analyst.
