THE RISE in house prices in the second quarter of this year was the biggest since the height of the late-1980s boom, and cases of “property rage” are becoming more common as buyers fight over homes, according to a new report from Halifax. Other things, such as certainty and warranty, are attached to this bid.”It depends how much the Punch bid is and what happens to the other issues surrounding it,” the source said.. We will study the new document and talk to the Allied board about it again. I suspect very few people are firmly committed at this stage,” he said.A source close to Allied Domecq said that money was not the main issue at stake but he added Allied’s board had a duty to consider any new offer from Punch.”This is not like two competing bids for a publicly listed company where all you do is look at the headline numbers. “People are expecting Punch to up it,” he said.He added that the vast majority of shareholders had not decided whether to back Punch or Whitbread and were waiting to see what Punch came up with.”We’ve not come to a firm view. “Our offer will address all the issues that the board has raised,” he said.However, sources close to the bid added that if, after that, shareholders remain unswayed, the option of more money will be considered.”If every institution comes back and says we’ve addressed the non-value issues but that more money is still needed then we’ll think seriously about it,” one source said.A major shareholder yesterday said the expectation in the City was that Punch would raise its bid. Punch yesterday said it would produce a revised offer tomorrow which would address all the concerns raised by the board of Allied Domecq when they opted to back Whitbread’s rival pounds 2.877bn cash and paper bid.
Wednesday’s offer will differ from the current Punch bid and is expected to clarify issues related to financing and the vexed question of potential warranty claims but it is not expected to put more cash on the table.Hugh Osmond, the chairman of Punch Taverns, said that Wednesday’s offer is intended to clear up all the attendant legal and financial issues surrounding the offer, many of which have left shareholders confused.

THE CITY believes Punch Taverns will sweeten its pounds 2.925bn cash bid for the 3,600-strong Allied Domecq’s pub estate at the eleventh hour. They are in markets which have changed so fundamentally and when the margins fall so far there’s no way to get them back.”. Nonetheless, he added that the pounds 3.5m of exceptional costs set aside in March would still be sufficient to cover redundancy costs.In March, the group reported profits before tax and exceptionals of pounds 41.7m on turnover of pounds 663m for the year that ended 2 January.Delta said it was now the final year of its three-year restructuring plan and claimed that strategically much had been achieved for the company.”We could have done without what’s happening with the German plumbing market and UK wholesale electrical but, in terms of strategically clearing up the group, we are pleased with our strategic progress,” the spokesperson said.But analysts said that the group, which produces electrical switch gear and pipe fittings for plumbing, was a casualty of the malaise affecting manufacturing in general.One said: “If you keep saying things will get better but they don’t, the perception starts to be that there’s nothing you can do. Shares fell 4 per cent to close at 141.5p as Delta said poor conditions in the UK electrical wholesale market and the plumbing market in Germany were set to continue for the rest of the year.
A Delta spokesperson said the job losses, part of an ongoing restructuring, were twice as bad as predicted.

DELTA, THE troubled electronics company, is to axe 400 jobs in the West Midlands, the group said yesterday when it unveiled its second profit warning in as many months. Close co-ordination of economic policies is therefore necessary,” he added.Under the Pact for Growth and Stability, member states’ public deficit should not exceed 3 per cent of gross domestic product. Earlier this year the markets reacted badly when Italy said its deficit could increase from the planned ceiling of 2 per cent to 2.4 per cent – although the figure is well below the 3 per cent limit.Mr Eichel’s critics pointed out that Germany had held the chair of the EU finance ministers when Italy was allowed to revise its plans, making his criticism inappropriate.Leading article,Review, page 3. We want to fully exploit the growth potential of EMU and strengthen the euro.