Langton Capital – 2022-12-09 – The consumer, energy costs, food prices, rail strikes, travel & other:
Section TitleThe consumer, energy costs, food prices, rail strikes, travel & other: A DAY IN THE LIFE: Despite the fact that there are now an alarming number of little windows open on this year’s Advent Calendar, I must be focussing on the day job a little more than usual as Duolingo has demoted me through the divisions three times in three weeks and I’ve lost my streak. Or I would have done, it’s a good way to take the pressure off, but the website employed a ‘streak freeze’, presumably to keep me hooked. Anyway, whilst the above may resonate with some, it will mean nothing to most readers and, fresh back from walking to dog – and watching her do a very convincing ‘dumbfounded’ when finding for the first time that water can turn solid and be rather cold, it’s time to say have a great weekend and let’s move on to the news: LANGTON EMAIL: The Free Email is now written in short form. Extended versions of many stories (after the ellipses) 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 https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=87YUG2Z5W7PSN PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Consumer squeeze: Aldi, Lidl and Sainsbury’s are offering bags of Christmas vegetables for just 19p. In previous years, all the big supermarkets have offered discounts on festive feast veg to try to draw in shoppers, with prices sinking to 15p a bag. News from the Bank of England next week on what will happen to interest rates. The ONS will report on employment trends and inflation numbers in the week after. Sector overview: Property agents Avison Young reports that 2023 will be a turbulent year for the leisure sector with it being heavily exposed to rising costs and reduced consumer spend… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Energy costs: The CBI has called on the government to offer Covid-style grants to firms struggling with rising energy bills. It also wants firms to be able to defer paying energy bills as part of an ongoing package of support beyond next spring. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Food inflation: The MA reports that Christmas menus are being complicated by ‘soaring’ food prices. It says publicans may have advertised Christmas deals at a certain price, only to find ingredient prices have risen further with Bath Pub Company MD Joe Cussens saying ‘[If you] say it’s £35 for a three-course meal, then if the price of turkey and smoked salmon goes through the roof, you’re stuck having to honour that price.’ Rail strikes: UKH has said that it thinks rail strikes next week could cost businesses about £1.5bn in lost sales and other knock-on effects. It believes that cancellations could move up to 35%-40% of all bookings. Restaurants are already suffering from the progression of the England football team in this, the first ever winter World Cup. Food bookings on Saturday evening, for example, are likely to be weak… COMPANY NEWS: The Real Greek opens its first restaurant in Scotland on 12 December, located in St James Quarter, Edinburgh. The opening marks the group’s fifth new restaurant opening of 2022, following new locations in popular UK cities, Manchester, Newcastle, Solihull, and Gloucester. Wild Beer has confirmed stories that it was to cease trading if buyers could not be found. The company said ‘we are heartbroken to be in this position…’ Coffee#1, which is owned by Caffe Nero, has announced the launch of Click and Collect across its store estate for the first time. It says ‘the launch follows the recent successful roll out of delivery from Coffee#1 coffee houses with delivery partner Just Eat .’ Beverage Daily reports that ‘two of Molson Coors’ biggest facilities in Canada are now producing hard seltzers for the Western and Central Canada markets.’ This following a $60m investment. Morrison’s is reported to have agreed a £220 million “sale and leaseback” deal on seven of its distribution warehouses to Intermediate Capital Group… C&C Group plc has announced that Emer Finnan is to step down from her position as an independent Non-Executive Director on 8 February 2023. The company reports that John Gibney will succeed Emer as Chair of the Audit Committee. Vineet Bhalla will also join the Audit Committee on that date. Coca Cola-owned but UK-based coffee chain Costa is reported set to open its first store in Austria in early 2023 with an outlet at Vienna Airport. The unit, which will be operatred by Lagardére Travel Retail, will see Costa strengthen its relationship with the French travel retail company. Reuters reports that Filipino food company Jollibee Food Corporation is said to be seeking to sell a minority stake in Vietnamese coffee chain Highlands Coffee. The sale of a 10-15% stake in the company could value Highlands Coffee at around $800m. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: ACI Europe data shows a 12% slump in passengers in October against the same month in pre-pandemic 2019. UK airports were among the best performers. American Express Global Business Travel has suggested that air fare price hikes around the world could be a feature of the travel industry next year. It says rises may be “modest” at around 3.7% on some popular routes such as transatlantic services between Europe and North America… Home Secretary Suella Braverman has cautioned people to ‘think carefully’ about their travel plans over the Christmas period… Real estate consultant Avison Young reports that UK tourism will boost the travel sector as the cost of living crisis drives staycation demand… OTHER LEISURE: Administrators FRP reveal that the Wasps rugby team had debts totalling £95m when the club went into administration… The FTC in the US has moved to block Microsoft’s takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard… FINANCE & MARKETS: Big week next week for interest rate announcements. US announcement Wednesday and the ECB and the Bank of England on Thursday. The British Chambers of Commerce has said it ‘expects the UK economy to remain in recession for five quarters before an anaemic recovery in 2024.’ On a slightly brighter note, it says ‘inflation has likely peaked at 11%.’ It does say, however, that it still expects inflation in the UK to be 5% (2.5x the Bank of England’s target) in a year’s time… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The IEA reports that ‘Big Government, Big Borrowing and Big Inflation are probably here to stay.’ It says ‘the Conservative Party has since been boasting on Twitter about its plan for ‘tackling inflation’ but details of this plan have still not been forthcoming…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says that its house price net balance – which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices – fell to minus 25 in November. A Reuters’ poll of economists had suggested minus 10…. CEO of Euronext Stéphane Boujnah has suggested that London is losing share in the Euro-denominated swaps market because ‘London used to be the largest financial centre of the EU and everybody liked it.’ But he says ‘today, London is the largest financial centre of the United Kingdom.’ Sterling mixed at $1.226 and €1.159. Oil lower at $76.57. UK 10yr gilt yield up 5bps at 3.10%. World markets broadly better yesterday and London set to open up around 12pts as at 6.30am. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. |
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