What the Sunday papers said

Tim Clark, chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers, is on a high, presiding over rising profits and share prices, positive market sentiment and a generally well-managed cash-generative business. He could go the way of his opposite number, Richard North, at InterContinental Hotels, who has seen share performance rise 18 per cent rise in the past year. Clark and North lives split after the old Bass group Six Continents split into the two separate businesses - The Observer​

Anheuser-Busch, the world's biggest brewer and producer of Budweiser, will intensify its battle with SABMiller, the second biggest brewer, by expanding aggressively in its rival's South African home market - The Sunday Telegraph​

Vince Power, the rock promoter and founder of Mean Fiddler, appears to have left an unpleasant aroma after stepping down as chairman of the AIM-listed company last week and cashing in his 35 per cent holding for £12m. Mean Fiddler made losses of £12.6m over the past three years - The Sunday Times​

Glasgow-based soft drinks company AG Barr, maker of IRN-Bru and Tizer, has strong brands and an ability to generate cash, and its bands are maintaining or improving their position in a highly competitive market - The Business​

Shares of Coca-Cola, the soft drink leader, are down 20 per cent this year and 25 per cent below their springtime high - The Business​

Regent Inns, the crisis hit owner of Jongleurs comedy clubs, is having its books scoured by Kroll, the corporate investigator. Kroll has been hired by a consortium of Regent Inns' lenders, including Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Allied Irish - Sunday Express​

SFI, the high street pubs group that owns the Slug & Lettuce, is starting to drive up like-for-like sales after trimming its losses by £83.6m. The company, which delisted last year after the discovery of discrepancies, cut its pre-tax losses from £110m to £26.4m in the year to May 2004 - Financial Times​

Wolverhampton & Dudley has secured contracts that will make it Britain's second largest brewery. The deal to brew 130,000 barrels of draft Bass for Interbrew from February, and to supply Marston's and Bank's to Wetherspoons and Mitchells & Butlers outlets, will boost production to 700,000 barrels or 201.5m pints - Financial Times​

Following Hartford Group's first recording of pre-tax profits since its foundation six years ago, the company's sales have slipped in the second half with one-off costs including £100,000 redundancy charges and £74,000 loss on the sale of its flagship Dakota restaurant - Financial Times​

Anadolu Efes, Turkey's leading brewer, is to announce a multi-million dollar London flotation today (Monday). The $1.7bn Istanbul-based company is looking for separate listings for Efes Breweries International (EBI), which is responsible for the fast-growing Russian, east-European and Balkan markets. Financial Times​

Pubs call time on dear beer as companies like Mitchells & Butlers, whose chief executive Tim Clarke has taken a leaf out of Asda's book and spoken of 'everyday low prices', look to cut bar prices. The Observer​