GREENCORE’S recent decision to exit the sugar business might have reduced its focus to sandwich making but the prospect of a property windfall from the expected sale of its sugar factories in Carlow and Mallow has helped push the stock up by more than 20% this year.

Greencore has approached Carlow county council to consider rezoning the 290-acre site. Until now, speculation had been that the group could make up to €150m from the sites.

When David Dilger, chief executive of Greencore, was leafing through the property pages of the dailies last week, he no doubt noticed a report that a ready-to-go 75-acre site with planning permission for almost 800 homes on the edge of Carlow has been put on the market for €60m.

If Greencore were to get full planning on its own site, a back-of-an-envelope calculation would point to a figure of close to €250m for the Carlow property alone.

More speculative investors might be piling into the group in the hope that it will become a takeover target as the lowmargin convenience foods sector consolidates.

The straight-talking Dilger is amenable to an approach. Multi-millionaire financier Dermot Desmond might also be willing to sell the 22% stake he acquired three years ago.

Argos shopper

ARGOS Retail Group — which will be spun out of GUS later this year — is being mooted as a potential bidder for MFI, the troubled furniture group.

You can understand why Terry Duddy, chief executive of the group that will include Homebase as well as the Argos catalogue stores, could be tempted to bid for MFI, despite the furniture retailer’s problems.

Duddy has made no secret of his desire to “bulk up” and add more retail formats to the group. It will need to make acquisitions if it is to guarantee its place in the FTSE 100 elite.

A deal to buy MFI might also reassure analysts of the growth prospects at a time when both Argos and Homebase look increasingly mature.

Over the past few years, Duddy has attempted to reposition Homebase — ditching low-margin lines such as cement and wood in favour of higher-margin home products such as kettles and even DVD players. The question is, has he gone too far and lost his core customer base? Argos has also suffered a drop in sales and profits. A blip after years of impressive growth? Perhaps, but Argos will face increasing competition as the supermarkets broaden their non-food offerings in the coming years.

MFI must be tempting — but Duddy already has a lot on his plate.

Some holiday

CARNIVAL has been the worst performer in the FTSE 100 this year, falling 16.4% since January.

The cruise operator has warned shareholders that weaker demand for holidays, rising fuel costs and a change in accounting policies would hit earnings. The warning wiped 12% off the share price.

As if the falling dollar and rising American interest rates were not enough, analysts at Quest point out that weather forecasters are predicting more hurricanes this year. Consensus forecasts of 15% growth in 2007 would also appear to be wide of the mark.

Quest, which was one of the few analysts to warn that Carnival’s share price was peaking, now says the company is still some way from the bottom, which is depressing news for shareholders.