spreadbetters bonanza on mab on 10 pound a point as of 29 april hop on baby

up 9p @ 191p. Shares have strengtherned since the dividend cancellation announcement so as to reduce debt.

Any followers of these?

Just me then!

I follow Marstons (MARS) only because we have a local one.

Excellent pint!

Never tried it , I'm a lager lout :-)

lager is for BBQ's :-)

Mitchells & Butlers plc


Mitchells & Butlers has been informed that the Takeover Panel has now finished
its investigations and concluded that no agreement or understanding was reached
between any party to act in concert for the purposes of the City Code, between
15 October 2009 and the date of this announcement.
The Board welcomes the Takeover Panel's conclusions and looks forward to
implementing its strategic plans to create value for all shareholders.

Half Yearly Report.

Business Highlights

-
Like-for-like sales up 1.8% in the 33 weeks*
-
Food and drink like-for-like sales up 4.3%* and 0.3%* respectively
-
Retail operating profits up 13.7% at 158m**
-
Retail net operating margin up 1.6% points**
-
Net debt reduced by 87m in the first half
-
Pension funding approach agreed: annual payments increased from 24m to 40m

Interim Management Statement.

Performance



Like-for-like sales in the first 42 weeks of the financial year have increased by 1.6% with total sales up 2.1%. Like-for-like sales rose by 1.2% in the most recent nine weeks since we last reported. The month of the World Cup had a negative impact on food sales reducing overall like-for-like sales by approximately 2.0%, indicating an estimated underlying growth rate of 3.2% in the nine week period.

Interim Management Statement.

Operating performance

On a like-for-like basis, sales in the first 42 weeks were up 3.1% with trading in the last 9 weeks to 16 July up by 2.8%. This recent period of trading was however against weaker comparable results last year (due to the football World Cup) and management estimates that the underlying like-for-like growth trend has softened to around 1%.

Still the Joe Lewis factor? A few 'rule 8's' today - knock on for JDW share price?

Well that's that then!

Response to Announcement by Piedmont

Final Results.

- Total sales up 4.9% including food sales up 7.8%
- Operating profit up 1.1% and operating margin at 16.3%
- EBITDA returns of 21% achieved on expansionary capex invested
over the last two years
- Net debt reduced by over GBP400m; net debt:EBITDA now at 4.7
times

- Like-for-like sales in FY 2011 of +2.6% with food like-for-like
sales of +4.8%
- Like-for-like sales growth of 2.0% in first 8 weeks of FY 2012

Interim Management Statement.

Like-for-like sales in the 9 weeks to 21 January 2012 were up 6.5%, assisted by the improved weather over this year's Christmas period. As a result, like-for-like sales in the first 17 weeks of the financial year were up 4.4%.

Trading in January has been more subdued but consistent with the underlying like-for-like sales trend first noted in July last year of around 1% growth.


Total Company sales in the first 17 weeks, including the impact from major disposals last year, were up 1.3%. In the same period, total sales for the Retained Estate* were up 7.5%.

The Company continues to progress a number of business initiatives, including simplifying processes and devolving greater responsibility and accountability to customer facing operations. This will enhance the guest experience and lay the foundations for further business growth. Brand Operations Directors are now in place and further changes are anticipated in central support structures where a staff consultation period is in progress.

MAB strong today - albeit on less than staggering volume.

Half Yearly Report.

Financial performance

- Retained Estatea revenue growth of 6.3% to £969m, with like-for-likeb growth of 2.7%

- Retained Estatea operating profit up 1.5% to £138m before exceptional items, with net operating marginc down 0.7 percentage points as a result of inflationary cost increases in energy and food

- Exceptional operating costs of £20m include £14m of business and systems restructuring costs, delivering annualised savings of £10m

- Adjusted earnings per shared up 10.6% to 12.5p after lower interest and tax charges

- Net cash flow of £12m after expansionary capital and exceptional items

- Net debt of £1.9bn representing 4.6 times EBITDAe

Statutory results


- Profit before tax down £1m to £42m

- Basic earnings per share down 0.3p to 8.8p

Brand roll-out

- 35 new site openings and 7 conversions in the period with expansionary capex of £42m

- 200th Harvester opened, a major milestone for the brand

- EBITDA returns of 17% achieved on expansionary capex invested over the last two years

Strategic progress

- Business transformation programme underway, simplifying our support functions and sharpening focus on guest service throughout all areas of the business

- IT infrastructure upgraded, laying the foundation for technological enhancements including wi-fi rollout and a faster menu development cycle

- Service quality enhanced through increased investment in site-level operations

Interim Management Statement

Operating performance

Like-for-like sales growth was 0.4% in the 14 weeks to 14 July and 1.9% for the 42 weeks of the year to date, with the recent period in particular adversely impacted by the persistent wet weather and the negative impact of the European Football Championships. Within this, trading on key days and special occasions has remained strong with 4% like-for-like sales growth over the five days of the Diamond Jubilee weekend. Like-for-like growth in the most recent 9 weeks since the date of the Interim Results announcement has been 1.6%.

Final Results

Financial performance

- Total revenue of £1,889m, up 3.3%a
- Like-for-like sales growth of 2.1%b, led by food sales
- Recovery in net operating margin in the second half
- Adjusted operating profit of £304mc, up 1.0%a after inflationary costs and investment into service and amenity
- Adjusted earnings per share of 30.5pc, up 6.4%a
- Net cash flow of £32md after expansionary capital of £55m
- Net debt of £1.8bn representing 4.5 times EBITDAe
- Like-for-like sales broadly flat in the first 8 weeks of FY 2013

Operational performance

- Business transformation programme underway to improve focus on the guest in all areas
- Central support functions and infrastructure reorganised with £6m saving delivered in FY 2012
- Increased investment in training and service; new training academy opened
- Guest satisfaction and retail employee engagement both improved 5 percentage points
- Building on enhanced technology platform to further improve the customer experience with more targeted marketing
- Award-winning brands and infrastructure projects: Harvester and Toby Carvery top Technomic satisfaction poll; Retail Systems Award for Best Use of Technology; Alex wins Consumer Focus award in Germany; M&B awarded Carbon Trust Standard for the second time.

Property Estate

- £37m reduction in property valuation, a 1% decrease excluding acquisitions and conversions
- 47 new site openings and 10 conversions in the period with expansionary capex of £55m
- EBITDA returns of 17% achieved on expansionary capex invested over the last two years