BUZZ-Mitchells & Butlers: UK Budget hangover

** Pub chain Mitchells & Butlers (LSE: MAB.L - news) under pressure as Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) cuts rating on stock to "hold" vs "buy" in the wake of Chancellor George Osborne's Budget which raised the minimum wage

** Stock, down 2.5%, 2nd-top UK midcap faller, taking its post-budget decline to 10%; minimum wage to rise by 38 pct to £9 per hour by 2020

** DB flags greater medium-term pressure on M&B's cash-flows from National Living Wage, as well as the potential to push even further out the reinstatement of its dividend, to maybe FY18

** Broker also downgrades JD Wetherspoon by 9% due to the 8% starter pay rise just agreed for August 2015

** JDW suffered its biggest one-day percentage drop in 5 yrs on Wednesday when it warned of impact to margins from NLW

** DB sees Whitbread (BUY), Merlin (BUY) as least affected by NLW of its UK group, with Greene King (LSE: GNK.L - news) best placed having just completed an acquisition that should provide hidden potential upside to offset much of the extra burden

** Number of other labour-intensive firms also at risk from UK budget, according to strategists (RM (LSE: RM.L - news) : tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)