Weale takes a leaf out of Cantona’s book

OUTGOING Bank of England ratesetter Martin Weale was channelling his inner Eric Cantona today as he moved into the realms of philosophy.

Weale, who now appears to have changed his mind on interest rate cuts after opposing an immediate move from the Bank last week, said enigmatically: “Although you can’t say there’s a clear signal, if you spend all the time waiting, it never comes.”

Eh? Spy was reminded of the words of the great Manchester United star who once told a press conference: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.” Presumably last week’s dire survey data will be enough to get Weale to change his mind in August.

IT’S not been a great few days for analysts at Berenberg who initiated coverage of the leisure and gaming sector with a confident prediction that there was “little additional room for M&A in gaming” and “William Hill is out of the game”. They went on: “The time for big M&A deals is over. Sizeable companies that have been left out of the consolidation wave are either unlikely to find a proper mate, are looking to go public rather than conduct M&A or are unwilling to enter the M&A arena.” Hours after they slapped a Sell rating on Hill, news of a joint bid by Rank and online gaming firm 888 for the bookie pushed the shares up 5% to 328p — well above Berenberg’s target of 240p.