US economy to rebound in 2008 from current "near-recessionary" growth: UCLA report
San Francisco: Economic growth in the US will rebound to about 3 per cent by mid-2008, up from a "near recessionary" average of 1.8 per cent this year, with the easing of the slowdown in the housing market and the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates, according to a forecast released on Tuesday.

The outlook by the UCLA Anderson Forecast unit said that exports, business investment and wealthy consumers would help propel the recovery from below-trend growth through the first quarter of next year.

The UCLA's economic forecasting unit also says that the Federal Reserve's hesitancy to lower interest rates despite the first quarter's weak growth, would fade before the end of the year, with core inflation staying inside the Fed's informal 2 per cent target

David Shulman, who wrote the report, expects three cuts of 25 basis points each in the fed funds rate starting in the fourth quarter, which would take it down to 4.5 per cent by the end of the second quarter of 2008, from its current 5.25 per cent.
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Cadbury to sell beverages unit, slash jobs
London: Cadbury Schweppes, the biggest confectioner in the world, said today that it plans to sell the United States beverage unit that made Dr Pepper, Snapple and 7-Up and also slash up to 7,500 jobs in order to become more profitable.

Cadbury said it had received "expressions of interest" for the drinks unit, but did not provide further details. Cadbury's moves are intended to increase its margins, which have lagged behind those of rivals Hershey and Wm. Wrigley Jr.

Cadbury has received offers from at least three bidding groups that include the private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Blackstone Group, and Cott, a Canadian company that makes private-label drinks for retailers like Wal-Mart Stores, according to market sources.

The restructuring would allow Cadbury to increase revenue up to 6 per cent a year, raise its margins to about 15 per cent from 10 per cent, lift dividends and improve returns from the capital it invests.

Following the separation, Cadbury will drop Schweppes from its name. Cadbury's American drinks business controls about 15 per cent of the $70 billion American market for carbonated soft drinks and ranks behind Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, according to the Beverage Digest.
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Leisure group, Whitbread, to invest £150mn in Indian market
UK Leisure group, Whitbread, is ready to invest £150 million developing its Premier Travel Inn (PTI) budget hotel chain in India. The company, which is also eyeing China as a market for PTI, said yesterday that it had signed a 50-50 joint venture with Emaar MGF Land Private, an Indian property developer, to build about 80 hotels with 12,000 rooms over the next ten years.

The Group is also close to signing a deal to take its Costa coffee shop chain to Russia.

The Indian joint venture will invest a total of £300 million over the ten year period. The initial sites will be in and around Delhi, Madras, Goa, Hyderabad and Chandigarh as the chain looks to target both business and leisure travelers.

Alan Parker, Whitbread's chief executive, said that the entry of PTI into the Indian market would fill a gap in the hotel sector, adding: "The pace of economic development in India is quite phenomenal."
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