Furlough, AG Barr, delivery problems, Safestay, Pat Val, ESC & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

After having secured diesel sufficient to make the journey, it looks as though the extended Langton family will be attending a wedding in Hull on Saturday but, as one problem is solved, another arises as I have left all of my decent black shoes in London.

Hence, the inescapable question is, can I wear brown?

I mean the shoes in question are a decent bit of kit but they are, inescapably, brown so the choice is between looking like an aged sleezy hipster estate agent on the one hand, or popping down Tesco for a twenty quid pair of black shoes that will a) cut up my feet something wicked on Saturday and then b) get thrown in the bin on Sunday.

Comments and suggestions, please.

Anyway, the heavens opened yesterday and I’ve got a bit of a hobble on because, after lifting up a heavy outdoor table to tip the rainwater off and get in some rays, I managed to let it slip from my grasp and it landed on my leg. On to the news: 

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Furlough’s end:

The UK’s furlough scheme ends on Thursday night. It has been successful – though at great cost to the taxpayer. The jobs market is strong but, if those remaining on furlough have not been taken off it yet, they may not have a job to go back to.

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Trading:

CGA has produced the data for the Fentiman’s Market Report 2021 in which it says that on-trade drink sales fell from £31.1bn in 2019 to £12.8bn in 2020. This is just on-sales and is broadly in line with the reduction in trading weeks imposed by lockdowns.

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Fuel shortages => product shortages => not good news. The BBPA has said it is ‘closely monitoring’ the fuel crisis. It says ‘the apparent fuel shortage on top of other crises to hit the hospitality sector is cause for concern but we are closely monitoring the situation.’ CEO Emma McClarkin says ‘brewers and their suppliers continue to work around the clock to ensure there are no disruptions to the supply of beer. The steps the Government has taken to enable more short-term visas for HGV drivers will hopefully begin to stabilise the situation across UK supply chains.’

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More talk of turkey shortages in the run up to Christmas. The Traditional Farm Fresh Turkey Association has told the PA Media news agency ‘this year it’s looking like there is a national shortage of turkeys when we’re talking about supermarket shelves, rather than buying direct from your farm.’ It says that it is ‘the supermarket shelves that will be emptier on turkeys this year than they have been before, because there have been less turkeys placed on the ground, because the big processors know that they will not get them processed.’

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Companies & other news:

The auditors of collapsed cake shop chain Patisserie Holdings, Grant Thornton, has been fined £2.34m for missing a number of red flags that should have pointed to the failure of management to produce honest accounts. The original fine was £4m, but this was reduced as Grant Thornton cooperated with the probe. The Financial Reporting Council says that Grant Thornton and David Newstead, its director of audit, showed “serious lack of competence in conducting the audit work” between 2015 and 2017. Grant Thornton has maintained that it was the duty of the directors to produce honest and accurate accounts.

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AG Barr has reported H1 numbers saying that it has seen a ‘strong first half performance and recommencement of dividends.’ The co says revenue is up 19.5% on last year at £135.3m with pre-exceptional EPS of 12.15p (2020: 10.52p). The company says it has seen strong trading across both of its main business units.

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Fuller, Smith & Turner yesterday announced that ‘subsequent to our announcements on 26 February 2021 and 11 June 2021, Adam Councell will step down from his role of Finance Director, and from the Board, on 30 September 2021.’ It adds that ‘as previously announced, we are delighted to have secured a highly experienced successor to Adam in Neil Smith. In order to ensure a smooth handover to Neil, Adam has agreed to provide appropriate support to the business on a consultancy basis until Neil joins the business on 30 November 2021.’

US chicken chain Popeyes is to open its first ever site in the UK, in the Westfield Stratford centre in November.

Turtle Bay co-founder Ajith Jayawickrema has told the Lunch show in London that the company is generating revenues some 50% ahead of the same period in 2019. The company says delivery ‘wasn’t a huge success for us’ and it has closed two sites in Germany.

Burger King UK has published accounts showing that sales fell by 22.8% to £103.1m for the year to end-December 2020. Adjusted EBITDA was £8.3m in 2020, compared to £8.1m in 2019.

Payment app service provider Flyt, which was bought by Just Eat for a suggested £22m in 2019, has reported full year numbers to end-December 2020 disclosing that revenues fell slightly from £6.800m to £6.706m with an operating profit before exceptional costs of £342k against £852k in the prior year. The profit after tax was £342k (2019: £725k). The company has retained losses since incorporation of £10.3m.

Petrol station operator EG Group has acquired 52 KFC restaurants in the UK from Amsric Group.

Budweiser Budvar has announced a landmark new collaboration created in conjunction with respected Czech craft brewery, Pivovar Clock.

London-based Telereal Trillium is reported to have purchased eight pubs in the capital for over £20m

HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL NEWS:

Safestay has reported H1 results saying that ‘due to the COVID-19 pandemic, government enforced trading restrictions meant the hostels were closed for 83% of H1 2021, with reopening commencing from late May. As a result, occupancy was at 19% (based only on hostels while they were open).’ The company says that total revenues were £1.02m with an EBITDAR loss of £0.3m. The operating loss before the sale of assets was £2.6m, down from a loss of £3.3m in the previous year.

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OTHER LEISURE:

Escape Hunt has reported H1 numbers to end-June saying that it has seen a ‘strong post lockdown bounce back’ from its UK sites, which reopened on 17 May. Revenue was £1.12m vs £1.31m in H1 last year and the loss per share was 2.8p vs a loss of 11.5p last year.

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FINANCE & MARKETS:

Up to 90% of petrol stations are reported to have run out of unleaded or diesel or both. The blame game is well underway (see also pubs & restaurants above).

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Estate agent Hampton’s has said summer 2021 marked peak growth rate for house prices – but it says prices will still rise by up to 3.5% a year between 2022 and 2024.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said that the current inflationary pressures in the UK make a rise in interest rates next year more likely. Bailey says ‘recent evidence appears to have strengthened that case [for an increase in interest rates] but there remain substantial uncertainties and we are monitoring the situation closely.’

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Sterling up at $1.3711 and €1.1723. Oil price over $80 at $80.12. UK 10yr gilt yield up 4bps at 0.96%. World markets mixed but broadly better yesterday and London set to open up around 12pts as at 7am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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