Alcohol minimum price details due

28 November 2012 Last updated at 00:45 GMT By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News The minimum pricing plan is aimed at heavily-discounted drinks sold in shops and supermarkets Ministers are due to unveil plans later for a minimum price for alcohol in England and Wales as part of a drive to tackle problem drinking.

The Home Office is expected to publish a consultation on the proposal, which was first put forward in the government's alcohol strategy in March.

A price of 40p per unit was suggested at the time.

But pressure has been mounting on ministers to follow Scotland's lead, where 50p has been proposed.

The aim of a minimum price would be to alter the cost of heavily discounted drinks sold in shops and supermarkets.

There has been evidence of some outlets selling alcohol at a loss to encourage customers through the doors, with cans of lager going for 20p and two-litre bottles of cider available for under £2.

'Pre-loading'

Ministers have been particularly critical of such practices, blaming them for what has been dubbed "pre-loading", where people binge-drink before going out.

The alcohol strategy linked this phenomenon to the rising levels of alcohol-related violence and hospital admissions, of which there are more than a million a year.

At the time, ministers said a 40p minimum price could save 900 lives a year and prevent 50,000 crimes by the end of the decade.

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We're paying a heavy price for alcohol misuse and setting a minimum unit price will help us on the road to changing this”

End Quote Eric Appleby Alcohol Concern As well as including details about a minimum price, the consultation is also likely to give more information about other alcohol measures, such as giving local agencies extra powers to restrict opening hours and banning multi-buy promotions.

There was also a proposal for a late-night levy to make clubs and pubs help pay for policing in the original strategy.

However, it is the minimum pricing proposal that has attracted most of the attention - and opposition from the industry.

The Scottish government plan, which is not due to start until April 2013, is subject to legal challenges.

A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said most of the industry was opposed to minimum pricing as it penalised the majority of people who were responsible drinkers while "doing nothing to address the root causes of harmful drinking".

Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: "We're paying a heavy price for alcohol misuse and setting a minimum unit price will help us on the road to changing this.

"Evidence shows us that setting the unit price at 50p will have most impact on those vulnerable groups we must protect - the young and heavy drinkers.

"But we cannot cut the misery caused by excessive drinking, whether it's crime or hospitalisation, through price alone.

"We need tighter controls around licensing, giving local authorities and police forces all the tools they need to get a firm grip on the way alcohol is being sold in their area. We have an opportunity to make an enormous difference to the lives of thousands of people - we must seize it."

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Groupon shares sink below $20 IPO price

The Groupon smartphone app is displayed on a Motorola Droid Bionic cell phone in Denver November 4, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking

NEW YORK | Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:53pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Groupon Inc fell for a third day on Wednesday, sinking below the company's initial public offering price of $20 less than three weeks after the daily deal company went public.

Groupon's shares fell 14.2 percent to $17.22 on Nasdaq, bringing its decline over the last three days to about 34 percent.

Groupon raised more than $700 million in an IPO in early November, making it the biggest IPO by a U.S. Internet company since Google Inc raised $1.7 billion in 2004.

Analysts have cited concerns about increased competition, a greater availability of the company's stock for short-selling, and a sharp reversal of market sentiment that is taking down more speculative companies.

"The momentum is negative now and it is likely to continue negative until they have something positive about the company," said Edward Woo, a Groupon analyst at Wedbush Morgan.

"There was a lot of negative sentiment heading into the IPO, the IPO surprised a lot of people, it was much stronger than expected," he said.

One reason for that strength was the fact that Groupon sold only about 6 percent of itself in the IPO, creating a scramble for the stock. It was one of the lowest floats of the past decade.

LivingSocial, Groupon's closest rival, which is part owned by Amazon.com Inc, announced plans on Monday to offer more than 20 deals with national merchants over the crucial Black Friday shopping period.

Daily deal companies often subsidize national deals, making them less profitable than offers run with local merchants. The national deals usually bring in lots of new customers, but put pressure on profit margins.

Analyst say Groupon shares were also lower because it became easier this week to short, or bet against, the company.

In the first week after the IPO, there was little stock available for short sellers, who have to borrow shares before they can sell them. If the stock drops, they can buy it back at a lower price, return the shares to the lender and pocket the difference as profit.

Woo has a price target of $22 and a "neutral" rating on Groupon's stock. He says that may come down if the stock is not able to bounce back soon.

"It is a little surprising at how quickly it's happening," said Woo. "But on the other hand the valuation was very high to begin with."

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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