PRESS DIGEST - British business press - Nov 5

The Times

CHANGE AT THE TOP OF MITCHELLS & BUTLERS

Mitchells & Butlers (MAB.L) is seeking a new non-executive director who could potentially take over as chairman in the next few months. Drummond Hall, chairman of the pub and restaurant group since last June and a non-executive director since 2004, has indicated he intends to step down after finding the role more time-consuming than he expected. One former colleague said: "If he decides to step down, it'll be because he feels the company is back on its feet, with its debt sorted out, a new chief executive appointed and the board restructured".

WETHERSPOON FORGES AHEAD WITH EXPANSION PROGRAMME

JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) announced it is to continue with plans to open 40 outlets in the financial year, despite a dip in trading. In a first quarter trading update, the pub operator reported a 0.3 percent increase in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to Oct. 25, down from a 1.2 percent increase in the first six weeks. The company opened seven new pubs during the 13 week period and total sales, including the new pubs, increased by 4.5 percent. Wetherspoon Finance Director Keith Down said he expected to begin talks soon concerning the refinancing of the group's 435 million pound debt facility and that he expected the debt to be replaced on a like-for-like basis.

Tempus

Rightmove (RMV.L) [Hold on]

Afren (AFRE.L) [Buy]

Alterian (ALN.L) [Tuck away]

Daily Telegraph

QUINTAIN IN 180 MILLION POUND CASH CALL

Property firm Quintain Estates & Development (QED.L) will launch a 180 million pound rights issue on Thursday having received support for the cash call from institutional shareholders. Quintain told investors the proceeds of the capital-raising would be used to bolster its balance sheet and to fund developments in Wembley and Greenwich. Fellow property groups Songbird SBDb.L and British Land (BLND.L) launched rights issues this year in order to reduce their debt burdens. Quintain shares were up 21 pence at 175.25 pence.

KRAFT MAY HAVE TO OFFER MORE CASH TO WIN CADBURY

Disappointing third-quarter sales at Kraft (KFT.N) mean that any further bids for Cadbury (CBRY.L) would be less attractive unless the cash-to-share ratio of the bid was increased. Kraft cut its forecast for sales growth this year from 3 percent to 2 percent. Third quarter sales at Kraft were up 0.5 percent, compared to the 7 percent rise seen at Cadbury. Total revenue at Kraft fell 5.7 percent to 9.8 billion dollars, short of the 10.2 billion dollars predicted by analysts. JP Morgan analysts in New York expect Kraft to submit a formal offer for Cadbury by the Nov. 9 deadline at a value of up to 820 pence-per-share.

TAYLOR WIMPEY URGES CAUTION ON PRICE RISES

Shares in Taylor Wimpey (TW.L) rose 3.03 pence to 40 pence on Wednesday after the housebuilder announced price rises of 9 percent and "significantly better" market conditions. Cancellation rates since July 1 are at 16 percent, compared to 48 percent in the second half of 2008, while the reservation rate on homes is up on the same period. All properties listed for sale in 2009 have been sold. Rival Redrow also saw "remarkably stable" sales over the traditionally difficult summer period. Its shares rose 10.1 pence to 149.5 pence.

QUESTOR

Aviva (AV.L) Hold

Logica (LOG.L) Buy

The Independent

M&S OPTIMISM ON ECONOMY GROWS AS PROFITS BEAT FORECASTS

Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) has revealed pre-tax profits before property disposals of 298.3 million pounds for the six months to Sept. 26 compared with 297.8 million pounds for the same period during 2008. Sales grew 2.8 percent to 4.3 billion pounds. The retailer's chief executive, Stuart Rose, said M&S had seen the worst of the downturn and predicted a gradual improvement in the general economy during 2010 with growth returning in 2011.

HESTER IN PLEA TO STAFF AFTER BONUS BAN BANKERS CONTACT HEADHUNTERS

Stephen Hester, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), has written to his employees stressing that the majority of the bank's staff are in "an improved position" with regard to bonuses compared to 2008. This declaration comes as City headhunters report a large number of calls from RBS employees wishing to move to banks not affected by the bonus ban imposed by the government this week. The ruling prohibits RBS from paying cash bonuses to any member of staff earning more than 39,000 pounds per year.

ROCK IMPROVES AHEAD OF ITS SPLIT AND SELL-OFF

A third-quarter trading update from Northern Rock shows an improvement in its performance in the period leading up to its partition into a "good" and "bad" bank at the end of 2009. Although the rate of three-month mortgage arrears rose to 4.11 percent of the loan book from 3.92 percent during the third quarter, the bank said the rate of increase was slowing. Gross mortgage lending over the same period increased to 1 billion pounds as Northern Rock made an effort to meet its target for 2009.

INVESTMENT COLUMN

Logica (LOG.L) (Hold)

FirstGroup (FGP.L) (Buy)

Cobham (COB.L) (Buy)

The Guardian

LORD BURNS POISED TO REPLACE LUKE JOHNSON AS C4 CHAIRMAN

Lord Burns is the most likely candidate to replace Luke Johnson as the chairman of Channel 4. The decision will be announced by Ofcom this week. Burns will encounter a series of challenges if he is appointed to the position including the need to establish a relationship with BBC Worldwide, something that is crucial to the future of Channel 4. The broadcaster's current chief executive, Andy Duncan, will be leaving before the end of the year and replacing him will be one of the new chairman's first responsibilities.

AVIVA SALES DROP 25 PERCENT AS PENSION SAVERS LOSE FAITH IN STOCKMARKET

Concerns about the state of the economy among older people have contributed to a 25 per cent decline in sales at Aviva (AV.L). Despite this, chief executive Andrew Moss said that it had been a good year for the company but unemployment and wage freezes have dented pension sales. The company has managed to successfully increase its surplus capital to more than 4 billion pounds from 3 billion pounds largely thanks to the sale of its Australian arm.

TAXPAYER TAKES HIT ON STRUGGLING RAIL FRANCHISES

On Wednesday FirstGroup (FGP.L) revealed it expected to receive 140 million pounds in subsidies from the government this year. FirstGroup is the owner of four of Britain's largest rail contracts and says it is entitled to such a large government subsidy because it missed revenue targets by a wide margin. Bob Crow, general secretary of the rail workers' union RMT, has criticised the rail franchise system by saying "the whole system has been an expensive disaster".

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants.