IHG, Carlsberg, Coca Cola HBC, demographics, inflation, delivery etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Though there’s been more rain up here than there has been in many other regions in the UK, it’s still pretty dry in Yorkshire.

Hence, though there are more serious issues in play, stretching from unwashed cars right through to fires, crop failures and the like, it does mean that I haven’t had to cut the grass for some time as, if you leave it long enough, it just seems to dry up and blow away.

And that’s great until you realise it’s a bit like chopping your foot off so you don’t have to clip your toenails.

Which can clearly solve one problem whilst creating another but, as it’s beyond Langton’s gift to conjure up rain out of nowhere, we won’t beat ourselves up over that too much.

Keeping one’s fingers crossed for some timely precipitation (hopefully at night and preferably over somebody else’s head) is maybe a more reasonable course of action. On to the news.

LANGTON EMAIL:

The Free Email is now written in short form. Extended versions of many stories are in the Premium Email. Reply to this email if you would like to upgrade.

Prices for the Premium at time of writing are £345 for one subscription, £595 for multiple, both plus VAT. Or sign up for easy in, easy out monthly option HERE

PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Demographics:

Just who your customers are can matter a great deal. Research from CEBR shows that the highest earners have been given annual pay increases of 10%, while the lowest earners have only received a 1% pay rise.

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.

Inflation & costs:

CGA and Prestige have updated on food costs in their Foodservice Price Index. The result is a fifth consecutive month of double-digit percentage (year-on-year) inflation. Inflation in the year to June stood at 11.5%. The Index suggests that ‘all ten food and drink categories in the Index moved upwards year-on-year, with three—Fruit, Dairy and Oils & Fats—recording inflation of more than 20%. Several categories surged month-on-month as the impacts on key commodities from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued to mount…’

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.

Work from home, work from hub etc.:

Pragma Consulting considers co-working spaces, saying these ‘were already on the rise pre-pandemic and their usage is even more widespread now, but to get buy-in from staff the workspaces have to be in a convenient location…’

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.

Footfall:

Springboard has updated on footfall for the week to 6 August saying that, overall, it was down 1.3% on last year, down 3.5% on 2019 and down 1.0% on last week…

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.

Delivery:

In the US, convenience store chain 7-Eleven has acquired Skipcart, described as a white-label delivery startup providing same-day and on-demand delivery. It says the purchase will allow it to compete directly with DoorDash…

Cost of living:

The RAC reports that the average price for a litre of unleaded was 177.46p over the weekend, while diesel cost an average of 188.23p. Fears over the global macroeconomic environment have sent world oil prices falling recently.

Online:

The slowdown in online sales growth has led to falling warehouse valuations. Warehouse valuations had previously soared as ecommerce boomed during the pandemic, but now the need for delivery capacity may also be slowing…

Other news:

Barclaycard has reported that spending on credit and debit cards rose by 8% last month, somewhat behind the level of inflation…

Restaurant sales in the US are reported to be stalling somewhat in the face of higher levels of inflation and other headwinds…

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.

Drought conditions and the heat in southern Europe will restrict olive oil production this year and prices are likely to rise.

CEO of John Lewis, Dame Sharon White, has told the BBC that she has “never seen anything quite like” the country’s current economic situation. She says the government should encourage people in their 50s to return to work full time…

COMPANY NEWS:

Carlsberg yesterday upgraded expectations for the full year ahead of its H1 numbers on 17 August, saying that ‘based on strong business performance year to date, including in July, and achievement of a consistent level of operations in Ukraine, we are upgrading our 2022 full-year outlook….’

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.

Coca-Cola HBC AG has this morning announced that it is to acquire ESM Effervescent Sodas Management Limited or “Three Cents” for an enterprise value of €45 million. It says Three Cents is ‘the owner of the popular super-premium mixer product line under the Three Cents brand, offering artisanal beverages crafted without preservatives or artificial colourings…’

SSP Group has signed a franchise agreement with Greggs, with the first unit already trading at Derby Railway Station. The deal will see more stores open in the coming months.

Red Oak Taverns has secured a £110m loan from Excellion Capital. The company will use £60m to refinance its existing capital, with the remaining £50m to be used for purchasing new assets and investing into existing ones.

Per Company Rescue, Pollen, an events company, is trying to find a buyer to continue trading after it was not able to meet payroll for July.  Restructuring firm Kroll and Goldman Sachs are handling the sale.

Patty & Bun has opened its 11th site, in Canary Wharf in London.

Shake Shack in the US is to increase prices by between 5% and 7% in Q4 this year. This will be the second price rise of the year. Shake Shack raised prices by a similar amount in March and it also raised prices last October.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Intercontinental Hotels has reported a sharp rise in profits and the reintroduction of its dividend alongside a share buyback programme. The co reports H1 numbers to end-June saying that revenue rose by 52% to $1,794m with an operating profit up 162% at $361m and an EPS of 117.4c compared with 26.2c in the prior year. The group is recommending a dividend for the half year of 43.9c (2021: nil).

CEO Keith Barr says ‘we saw continued strong trading in the first half of 2022 with increased demand for travel in most of our markets. This brought group RevPAR very close to pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter. Alongside leisure stays, the return of business and group travel demand continued to build over the period, and our hotels are seeing increased pricing power due to the strength of IHG’s brands, loyalty programme and technology platform.’

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.

BNP Paribas Real Estate initial Q2 2022 data shows that hotel ADR and RevPAR figures reached record highs as hoteliers increased their pricing to reflect rising occupancy levels and inflationary costs.  UK total average hotel occupancy rose to 80% in Q2 from 70% in Q1, with ADR increasing from £97.90 in Q1 to £122.86 in Q2, with RevPAR increasing from £68.41 to £98.60.

A dampened economic outlook caused transactions to decline, but this was still the best second quarter since 2018 with investment volumes at £1.2bn.

Japanese venture capital company SoftBank is reported to have sold its Uber holdings at some stage in Q2 this year. The firm invested in Uber in 2018.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Sterling mixed at $1.208 and €1.1849. Oil lower at $96.38. UK 10yr gilt yield off by 9bps at 1.95%. World markets mixed yesterday and London set to open down around 13pts as at 6.30am.

FORTHCOMING NEWS:

The week we have half year numbers from IHG (today) and Deliveroo (Weds), with TUI updating on Q3 on Tuesday and Hostelworld also reporting H1 numbers. Disney’s Q2 is the same day. Coca Cola HBC H1 numbers are Thursday and Flutter and 888 both report on Friday.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

• See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595.