Scottish & Newcastle Share Discussion Threads

[bigbobjoylove] 24/5/2006 16:38

""These are yielding me 5.7% with a 2.5% annual dividend increase pledge now in place""

lol just load up with debt to increase the divi to prop the price up.We're going sub 450 shortly.The dog of the footsie this one.Full of overpaid managers under achieving.

[coogar] 19/5/2006 21:11

Coogar rates SCTN a SCREAMING BUY BELOW 485p

What's more, I'll happily tell all if they look like they might fall as low as the price I bought in at... but I reckon you're in for an awful long wait ;)

These are yielding me 5.7% with a 2.5% annual dividend increase pledge now in place. It's a no brainer for me to continue to hold these as long as UK rates remain unchanged, which admittedly might not be too much longer.

I am in a similar position with LLOY, except of course with a much higher yield there (over 7% with a possible increase next year).

Looking forward to interest rates rising, as I have far too much cash on deposit. At least that's another reason the recent stock-market blip does not present any fears.

:)

[ashtongray] 19/5/2006 19:01

Tony Froggatt wouldn't be buying 10,000 shares if a profit warning was on the way, quite apart from the legal niceties....

[bigbobjoylove] 19/5/2006 11:42

yawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

should'nt be a tired watchin this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

profits warning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????????

[bigbobjoylove] 18/5/2006 08:12

hardly a constructive reply!!!

[bigbobjoylove] 15/5/2006 07:40

lol indeed,and maybe he knows the co better than some of the muppets on here??
All going down nicely as predicted by the master.A drop below 500 and its super bearish.

[coogar] 28/4/2006 14:43

I note that director Simon Hunt sold 7126 shares today @ 512.1p

Maybe he's strapped for cash. Either that or his middle name might be 'BIGBOBJOYLOVE'.

[piedro] 18/4/2006 19:57

Looks like Barclay's have topped up with 2,846,092 shares.

[bigbobjoylove] 12/4/2006 12:45

blimey not much fosters drunk outside uk.Very heavy vol today.

[pc4900074200] 12/4/2006 10:21

The Scotsman. 12-04-2006.

S&N toasts success as it swallows Fosters. MARTIN FLANAGAN. CITY EDITOR.

SCOTTISH & Newcastle yesterday bought the Foster's lager brand in Europe for £309 million - partly bankrolling the deal via a £210m placing of S&N shares with institutional investors.

S&N has held the licence from Foster's Group of Australia to brew and sell the brand in the UK and mainland Europe, including the Russian Federation, for more than a decade.

But Tony Froggatt, the Scottish brewer's Australian-born chief executive, said taking full control of the brand, and also including some new countries, "will allow us greater freedom to be able to drive the brand forward at a more aggressive rate".

In addition to the countries in the 1995 licensing agreement, S&N acquires the Foster's brands in countries such as Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Froggatt said S&N would no longer have to pay royalties to Foster's of Australia - amounting to £15m last year.

He said: "We can get a royalty that we would otherwise be paying to someone else. What it's also done for us is that, under the licence, we were forced to have their approval if there were any changes in the brands or technology or a move to a new brewery.

"That now all gets swept away and we will have much more flexibility and speed to drive new ideas and concepts [for the brand]".

Froggatt said there were initiatives S&N had in mind over the coming months, but would not divulge details yet.

Details of the placing are expected to be announced today. The rest of the purchase price, nearly £100m, will come from borrowings.

Ian McHoul, S&N's finance director, said the structure of the deal was designed to mirror the equity-to-debt split at the group. S&N is valued at about £4.5 billion on the stock market, and has debts of over £2bn. S&N's shares closed down 25p, or 4.7 per cent, at 506p.

The transaction spurred existing speculation that S&N may also be interested in Foster's Asian assets, also potentially up for sale.

Froggatt would only say yesterday that the group "are obviously aware" of the speculation, but that it already enjoyed market leadership in India via its joint venture with United Breweries and the Kingfisher beer brand.

S&N currently has more than 80 per cent of the total worldwide sales of Foster's by volume - with the UK being easily the dominant market.

Foster's worldwide volumes amounted to 9 million hectolitres in 2005. Of that, 7 million hectolitres were sold in the UK.

Foster's Group said the sale released it from a licensing agreement with S&N that had locked the Australian company into below market returns from its European beer sales.

Trevor O'Hoy, Foster's chief executive, said the agreement entered into with S&N in 1995 was in perpetuity, but that the royalties stream was at about half the level that would be entered into today.

O'Hoy said: "The royalty economics of that deal, which was struck at a time when the Foster's Group was in financial difficulties, have unfortunately not matched the dramatic growth of the brand in the region."

Amber nectar is key to UK brewer's plans
• 1995: S&N acquires the licence to brew, package and market Foster's lager - "the amber nectar" - in the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe, including Russian federation.

• S&N builds up the brand, which is far more popular in the UK than it is in its Australian homeland. Nearly four out of five pints of Foster's outside Australia are poured in the UK.

• Advertising has included the Don't Lose Your Head campaign and new products have been launched such as Foster's Ice.

• In the past three years, Foster's sales growth by volume has averaged 6 per cent in the UK and 15 per cent in Europe.

• Foster's now 14 per cent of S&N sales by volume.

• The company's other main brands include Kronenbourg 1664, John Smith's bitter and Strongbow cider, the four drinks accounting for the lion's share of S&N's marketing and advertising budget.

• April 2006: S&N buys Foster's brand in Europe, including new territories such as Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

• S&N finance director Ian McHoul says: "It opens up a whole bunch of new countries around the Commonwealth of Independent States [former Soviet Union] and Turkey. These are all countries with growing populations, GDP and beer consumption."

• The company says of the deal: "Ownership and control of Foster's brands in the group's core markets is critical to realise their full potential in terms of marketing, packaging and new product development."

pc

[ashtongray] 11/4/2006 20:07

Even so a slightly odd price response. Owning the Fosters brand in europe as opposed to production under a licensing agreement which can be terminated by the licensor is surely a plus both for SCTN as a business and also for a potential predator. The negative is that by implication that will not be Fosters?

[coogar] 11/4/2006 19:52

The share price merely reflects the price at which the new shares to fund the Fosters purchase were placed (500p)

[chirpy chappy] 11/4/2006 15:17

The share price seems to think less of a take over target as well at the moment

[a0002577] 11/4/2006 11:03

Hmmm... Does this buy of the Fosters Brand in Europe make them more or less likely to be a takeover target. My guess is that it makes them less of a target.

[bigbobjoylove] 11/4/2006 08:55

is the dog potless? hardly alot of cash they need yet a placing/dilution,wallet must be bare.

[bigbobjoylove] 10/4/2006 21:56

and back down goes the dog,nice story by a few traders to cream a few %

hope you all bought CRC.

[qpr67] 05/4/2006 20:18

4.000.000 BUY after hours.

[coogar] 05/4/2006 20:13

ByeByeBobbyLoser(Again)

[evo8] 05/4/2006 20:04

M&A speculation also played a part in the market's gain, with Scottish & Newcastle lifted 27 pence to 544 by vague bid rumours.