The Sunday Times
Scottish & Newcastle, the international brewer, is expected to announce on Tuesday that the company will raise up to £1.5bn by securitising more than 1,000 pubs. The move will more than cover the £1bn final payment due for Kronenbourg, the beer brand it bought from French group Danone. A securitisation will allow the group to continue to sell its beverages through the estate. It has already raised nearly £1.2bn from the sale of 1,100 pubs, and by divesting Center Parcs, its holiday-resort subsidary. Read more on thePublican.com...
Carluccio's, the Italian food shop and restaurant chain co-founded by Antonio Carluccio, doubled sales to £6m last year. The company, which runs seven outlets, also made an operating profit for the first time, of just over £155,000.
Giorgio Armani, the man behind one of the biggest fashion brands in the world, is in talks to launch Armani-branded hotels with an established hotelier. Industry sources suggest Starwood, Park Hyatt, or the Andre Balazs Group, are likely candidates for such a partnership.
One of the major movers on the stock market last week was food service group Brake Brothers. The shares soared 62.5p to 822.5p on the news that a US private equity group is to buy the company, subject to approval from shareholders.
Cadbury Schweppes, the sweets and drinks group, climbed 29p to 491.5p following its £250m bid for Dandy, the European chewing gum manufacturer.
In the wake of last month's profit warning, Fish! restaurants is to close four outlets, two in London - Battersea and Putney - plus Leeds and Manchester. All four units have ceased trading, and the Sunday Times' City diary reports the venues have been 'hawked around' to rival operators at a discount. Meanwhile, Marco-Pierre White will tomorrow open Wheelers of St James, his new 150 cover fish restaurant in Piccadilly.
The Sunday Telegraph
The Telegraph also carries the news that S&N will raise £1.5bn through securitising at least 1,000 pubs. Chief executive Brian Stewart has decided to securitise around two-third's of the managed estate. He has now dismissed proposals for either an outright sale or a sale-and-leaseback of the pubs.
A loophole in new laws banning public drinking has a made a mockery of Tony Blair's much-vaunted crackdown on "yob culture". Police can no longer confiscate alcohol from youths or take unopened cans and bottles of alcohol from people drinking illegally in public even if they are underage.
Investors should "carry on slurping and chewing" in Cadbury Schweppes. There are several acquisition targets on the horizon, but if it fails to do a deal, the group could itself be a target. Buy at 491.5p.
The Observer
Doctors are calling for warning labels to be put on a new breed of alcohol 'chasers' amid fears over the latest drinking craze. The doses of sweetened, flavoured spirits are easier than traditional hard spirits to down quickly, and risk encouraging binge drinking, a growing threat to health, especially among young women.
The BBC is expected to pull off a remarkable broadcasting coup this week when it is awarded the digital television licences formerly owned by ITV Digital, which was put into administration after owners Carlton and Granada pulled the plug.
The Mail on Sunday
Pub chain Wetherspoon has paid the price for its 'no TV' policy during the World Cup. Boss Tim Martin admitted that sales had slumped as customers went elsewhere to watch the action from Japan and South Korea. The British Beer & Pub Association said an extra 44 million pints of beer were drunk during the tournament - a £165m boost for the trade, apart from Wetherspoon.
The deficit run up by ITV Digital is far bigger than first thought. It could now top £2bn. The collapsed pay TV operator, jointly owned by Carlton and Granada, was believed to have gone out of business with debts of about £1.2bn.
The Express
The full scale of the black hole at the heart of the WorldCom disaster could be as much as £26bn, and not the £2.6bn so far disclosed by the company. The "creative accouting" scandal has rocked markets around the world.
The Independent on Sunday
No industry-related news