Strong keg
Since Flowers introduced 'keg' beer in the mid-1950s, sales of what is in effect a pasteurised beef have multiplied many times. It is now forecast that keg beer sales could rise from the present 4.7 million barrels per year to 7 million in 1974. It is an expensive production process and you have to be a big company to afford it, but profit margins are above average. The market leaders are Dou- ble Diamond (Allied Breweries), Red Barrel (Watney Mann), and Tankard (Whitbread). In comparison with its strong position in the lager market, Bass Charrington is rather far down the keg beer lists with Worthington `E'. It is more difficult to say which particular companies stand to gain most from the sharp increase in public house eating—perhaps Allied Breweries and Bass Charrington with a high proportion of managed houses, and Courage and Watney Mann situated in the prosperous south- east.
Which companies to select? Stockbrokers Hichens, Harrison and Co favour Watney Mann, Courage and Allied Breweries and they think Guinness, and Scottish and New- castle are on the dear side. I myself would ditch either of the last two named, partic- ularly Scottish and Newcastle which is doing well in the free trade, a sector of the industry which the Government is likely to encourage in return for letting retail prices float up- wards.
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