Market Round Up: Pubs on the rise as Cameron’s charge promises swelling swillers

Bottoms up! Pub groups were toasting David Cameron today after the Prime Minister revealed plans to set a minimum price for booze.

With drinkers set to have to pay at least 40p per unit of alcohol, hopes were raised that they will be persuaded out of the supermarkets — which, under the legislation, will not be able to offer multi-buy discount deals — and into their local.

“Mr Cameron doesn’t like people getting pissed-up and being sick everywhere, so he’s going to confine it to JD Wetherspoon instead,” noted one dealer dryly.

The chain, a favourite with those who appreciate value for money, was picked out as the biggest potential winner by Numis Securities’ Douglas Jack, as it ticked up 0.5p to 421.6p.

Mitchells & Butlers and Enterprise Inns advanced 2.3p to 275.9p and 1.5p to 53.25p respectively, and Greene King was 5p better off at 524p.

Analysts at Jefferies noted that the 40p charge could be raised if it proves ineffective.

The FTSE 100 failed to hold onto early gains, dropping 9.54 points to 5836.11 as the benchmark index headed for its worst week of 2012.

BT was at the top of the leaderboard having jumped 10.3p to 230.6p after the telecom giant announced that it is to start paying down its huge pension deficit earlier than expected.

Aviva was not far behind, with the car insurer 4.4p lower at 344.1p.

John McFarlane is set to take over as chairman in May, and UBS’ analysts suggested he might want to look at getting rid of its North American operations, saying the group could sell-up and “book a net gain”.

Elsewhere, BAE Systems crept up a penny to 305.35 amid speculation that it could be mulling over a possible bid for American aerospace business Esterline Technologies.

The rally at Essar Energy gathered pace on the FTSE 250. The power giant’s share price has more than halved since October but it has now added roughly 30% in little more than a week. Today it shot up 11p to 152p, with buyers tempted in by Morgan Stanley’s Nicholas Ashworth upgrading his recommendation to “overweight”.

Having dropped more than a quarter over the past few weeks, Gulfsands Petroleum bounced up 9.75p — or 7.74% — to 134.38p on AIM.

The move was accompanied by vague speculation that the explorer could attract a bid, with China’s CNOOC mooted as a possible bidder.

However, traders pooh-poohed the suggestion, saying the group’s focus on Syria — where its operations are at present suspended — would put off potential aggressors, and others suggesting it was more likely to make an acquisition itself.