LONDON— Six Continents could update investors next week on its plan to make acquisitions, according to a Reuters report. Six Continents, according to the report, has come under pressure from shareholders to make an acquisition or hand cash back after it sold its brewing operations and smaller pubs. It is due to post first-half earnings next Thursday. Analysts say the rapid recovery in hotel occupancy and room rates after 9/11 may have thwarted the groups plans to buy hotels when assets price were depressed, and many believe Six Continents has missed its chance of buying cheaply at the bottom of the market. The company last year held takeover talks with Wyndham International and reportedly looked at Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Many now believe the group may go for a limited share buyback with more piecemeal acquisitions such as last years Posthouse group in the UK and the Inter-Continental Hong Kong hotel. — Reuters
