Bass seeks to cash in on slow economy

Hotel and pub group Bass said last week that it wants to use the weakening world economy to buy businesses at bargain prices.

Chairman Sir Ian Prosser said: "Our preference at the present time is to take advantage of slowing global economic conditions to find investment opportunities and acquisitions at the right price."

April's purchase of 79 Posthouse hotels for £810m was an important step in raising the group's profile in Europe, Prosser added.

Strong growth in Europe helped Bass shake off the effects of the slowing US economy to post a 4% increase in profits before tax in the past six months.

Bass, the world's second-biggest hotel operator, is flush with cash from the sale of its brewing interests for £2.3b to Belgian brewer Interbrew last year. It also sold 988 smaller, unbranded pubs for £625m in March.

Pre-tax profits, before one-off costs, in the 28 weeks to 14 April rose by 4% to £337m on turnover from continuing operations of £2.09b, up by 19.7%.