Brewers drown their sorrows as share values slump

I wrote recently of the massive slump in beer sales in pubs across the UK.

Unsurprisingly, share prices are already being hit. Following downbeat reports by two leading investment analysts, Credit Suisse and Landbanki, Enterprise Inns dropped 3.6% in value on Friday.

That would be bad enough, but this is just the latest nail in the group's coffin - it's now worth less than half what it was a year ago and is poised to drop out of the FTSE 100 next month.

Other brewers downgraded by Landbanki include Marstons, Mitchells & Butlers and Greene King. Only J D Wetherspoon - one of the few highstreet pub chains to enthusiastically promote real ales - was recommended to investors, and that's simply because Landbanki believes the market's low expectations have actually left the stock underpriced.

Nor is cider faring any better. Sales of the much-promoted Mangers have certainly lost their fizz, and are expected to have plummeted by 15% in the six months ending 31 August. Its Irish owner, C&C, reportedly anticipates little upturn before January 2009.