Old Monk groggy after debt alarm

IT was enough to make their bitter shareholders turn to drink.

Its market value has been shredded to just below £2m, while net debts are a steep £30m. Chief executive and founder Gerry Martin, younger brother of JD Wetherspoon's founder Tim Martin, is in talks with Royal Bank of Scotland. Trading in the summer has been extremely tough, and attempts to cut debt by selling 10 Old Monk themed sites have so far proved fruitless. Martin wants to reduce the estate to 22 from the current 35.

With the pips squeaking at Old Monk, bears sunk their claws into SFI. The Bar Med, Litten Tree and Slug & Lettuce pub and restaurant chain, has been under pressure. It fell to 106 1/2p, prompting a statement from the company. SFI denied it was facing financial problems and said trading in the first quarter continued to be positive.

It confirmed there has been some short-term pressure on creditors, but that it continued to trade within its existing banking facilities. Dealers were not convinced and the shares closed 27 1/2p down at 109 1/2p. WestLB Panmure's Douglas Jack had downgraded to 'underperform' before the statement and is happy to stay that way. He said: 'SFI's admission that it is putting creditors under pressure is worrying. The big question is - are they paying them or not?'

The rest of the market was as flat as a pint of home-made scrumpy. An early mark-up following Wall Street's overnight recovery prompted renewed selling on Iraqi war fears and worries about the global economy. The FTSE 100 fell a further 83.8 points before closing 51.9 lower at 3813.5. Wall Street dive at the open after Electronic Data Systems, second only to IBM in the global computer services sector, had overnight slashed its forecasts for the third and fourth quarters after a severe and unexpected slowdown in corporate spending. The EDS warning sent the TechMARK 100 tumbling another 18.6 to a new low of 667.

Sage, the last tech stock in the Footsie, slid another 4 3/4 p to 105 1/4p as brokers downgraded and Morgan Stanley cut its price target to 85p.

Dog of the day was BAE Systems. Britain's biggest defence contractor nosedived 27 1/4p to a seven-year low of 173 3/4p, as heavy and persistent hedge-fund selling swelled turnover to almost 70m shares. First-half results last week were poor, pre-tax profits falling from £551m to £461m. BAE also warned its pension fund had a £1.3bn black hole.

Rupert Murdoch's satellite TV company BSkyB dropped 26 1/2p to 518 1/2p amid speculation it may bid for a stake in Premiere, Kirch's German pay-TV operation. Premiere is being sold by creditors after Kirch Group collapsed.

A revival of ancient Shell Transport bid rumours accompanied a gain of 6 3/4p to 256 3/4p in BG Group. Shell eased 4 1/2p to 383 1/2p and BP 2 1/2p to 433p.

Brent crude for November delivery edged up to $28.40 a barrel, following Opec's decision to maintain existing quotas at 21.7m barrels in the fourth quarter.

Carphone Warehouse cheapened 3 1/2p to 76p, despite upbeat comments by chief executive Charles Dunstone at the opening of a new superstore in Oxford Street, London. He believes sales during the Christmas trading period between October and January will be 5-10% up on last year.

With still no sign of a Dave Whelan-led management buy-out, one institution decided to dump a shop-load of JJB Sports, 9 1/2p down at 150p. Broker Merrill Lynch apparently bought 5.25m at 142p and sold them on at 146p for a tasty turn.

Computer Services group Indigo Vision slumped 3 1/2p to 19p, following chairman Lord Young of Graffham's resignation because of increasing pressure of other business commitments. He is replaced by David Sibbald.

Racecourse owner Arena Leisure closed with its nose in front at 25p, up 1 1/2p, following speculative buying. Aim-listed Pathfinder Properties held at 10p, but should soon be boosted by news of a lucrative property disposal in Scotland.