Courage and beer

1 July 2003 By Rob Cox Follow @rob1cox

And with a solid set of results behind it, the British brewer has a good chance of surpassing its asking price. New CEO Tony Froggatt must not see the balance sheet flexibility the sale brings as a blank cheque to do deals.

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Scottish & Newcastle, Britain's biggest brewer, reported fiscal 2003 results that surpassed expectations, and said it has begun an auction of its pubs business which it expects to raise at least £2.3bn by yearend.

Earnings per share fell 4.8% to 41.6 pence as S&N completed a handful of acquisitions. Sales rose 19% to £5bn and operating profit rose 22% to £658m.

The group's managed retail pubs business saw operating profit rise 6.5% on an adjusted basis to £228m. Deutsche Bank and UBS are conducting the sale of the pubs, which had sales of £1bn.

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