Category: Casual Dining

M&B’s tone points to tricky 2017; a tough year might hit some harder than others…

The factors driving capacity: cheap cash and new ways of raising it… Low interest rates have allowed casual dining concepts to flourish. Crowdfunding has also provided an avenue of funding for operators. This has resulted in growth for growth’s sake and the saturation of the restaurant market. Several operators have built substantial estates in as…

60 Seconds on Rising Interest Rates, Inflation, etc.

Inflation is coming – who stands to lose out? Interest rates have been kept at 0.5% since January 2009 (even falling as low as 0.25%), distorting the markets Crowdfunding has also played its part wrt excess funding; AltFi research shows that of the 751 companies that have crowdfunded on the UK’s largest platforms, some 88…

Tread carefully; recent FTSE rally inflates already hard-to-justify valuations

A stock picker’s market? Stock prices — when did 25x EPS & a 2% yield become ‘cheap’? Recent and regular profit warnings hint at a degree of fragility re. stretched valuations. Restaurant Group, Whitbread, Next, and Sports Direct have all seen their share prices come undone after being rated in the high-teens to mid-twenties on…

Domino’s Pizza UK: Sustaining the Growth

Domino’s Pizza UK – Quality at an Unreasonable Price? Domino’s UK’s business model is high margin, highly efficient, and spins off cash. However, LfLs in its recent Q3 statement were down (from +14.7% in Q3 2015 to +10.5% for its important UK market, which accounted for 93% of group revenue in the period). Meanwhile, DOM…

Current trading; who are the winners & losers?

Background – costs: There is little inflation but 0% LfL won’t be enough to hold margin Because what inflation there is, is the ‘wrong sort’ Utilities are OK but wages (esp. National Living Wage) are a problem Occupancy costs & F&B costs are benign – but the latter will rise as Sterling falls Outlook for…