Langton Capital – 2023-01-03 – December sales, strikes, footfall, H Choc, RTN, DPP, CINE & other:
December sales, strikes, footfall, H Choc, RTN, DPP, CINE & other:A DAY IN THE LIFE: Christmas chez Langton began with a positive Covid test (my second, our daughter’s fourth) and cancelled visits to aged relatives and/or those working in the NHS, a binned trip to Hull to watch the Blackpool match, curtailed pub visits etc but, thankfully, the illness, in this instance at least, didn’t turn out to be a patch on its 2020 ancestor and, a little like Hull City, we made the best of it and it didn’t turn out too badly in the end at all. However, Christmas is over now and we’ve got January, which I swear must be fifty days long if it’s a day, stretching out interminably before us. Which may well be something of a challenge. Please drop us a line & let us know how you’re getting on. We’re aware that good news travels more rapidly than bad but we’ll anonymise any data received and will try to collate an all-round picture. Hence, with that in mind, 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: Christmas and wider December sales: Christmas happened. It always does but December was a weird and probably atypical month, as David Lee at Insight & Solutions comments, the month ‘was impacted by the World Cup, train strikes and very cold temperatures mid-month – and the fall of Xmas and New Year at a weekend had a mixture of benefit and cost dependant on trading location and offer…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. That’s history, what about now? With Easter Eggs in the shops, Christmas already feels in some ways a long time ago and, for cash-hungry businesses with bills to pay, current trading and the near future are now the areas of major concern… Train Strikes: With train strikes blighting this week (on Tues-Weds and Fri-Sat), UKH has said that industrial action last month had a worse impact on the hospitality trade than had been expected. It says strikes cost bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels £1.5bn in December alone… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. UKHospitality reports that the week beginning 12 of December saw sales down by 46% YoY due to the combination of rail strikes and cold weather. The trade body had forecast a £1.5bn hit to sales from industrial action in December and early 2023 but has now revised this to £2.3bn. City AM reports that ‘publicans have issued a rallying cry for punters to continue to back their local boozer this month as the industry battles an economic downturn.’ January is traditionally a quieter month for the industry. Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research has suggested that around 47 retail sites shut down every day last year. It says this is the worst year in at least the last five… Supermarkets have begun selling Easter eggs, around 14 weeks ahead of Easter itself. Alcohol free drinks: The BBPA urges non-drinkers to try alcohol-free drinks at a pub during January, with 85% of pubs now serving alcohol-free beers… Footfall: Springboard reports that footfall for the week ended 24 December was up 24.9% YoY but still -7.1% on pre-pandemic levels. Activity was down by 27.7% week on week, perhaps indicating that consumers had moved from shopping to socialising (or to doing nothing). There were rises in activity across all three key destination types, but the increases in footfall in shopping centres and retail parks were nearly double that in high streets… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The consumer: Lost deposits. The Evening Standard reports that PwC is warning that some 30,000 Made.com shoppers are likely to lose £12m in deposits. There is not likely to be cash available for unsecured creditors. This isn’t the kind of thing that people want to hear. COMPANY NEWS: Hotel Chocolat has announced a Partnership Agreement in Japan with Tokyo-based Eat Creator Corporation. It says ‘the agreement supports Hotel Chocolat’s global strategic ambitions, applying the key business learnings from the first four years of trading in Japan’. It adds that it will hold 20% of the equity in the new venture… Alcohol-free beer brand Lucky Saint is reported to have secured what it calls a “record-breaking” £10m investment in a Series A funding round. Over the Christmas period, DP Eurasia reports that it is ‘evaluating its presence in Russia, the impact of sanctions and its continuing ability to serve its customers in Russia. Consequently, the Company is considering various options which may include a divestment of its Russian operations. Whilst work on a potential transaction is ongoing, there can be no certainty as to the outcome.’ The Restaurant Group has announced (22 Dec) that it has successfully amended and extended its debt facilities. The revised £340m package comprises a £220m Term Loan Facility and a £120m Revolving Credit Facility… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. DP Poland has announced the appointment of David Wild as an independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Company. Mr Wild was previously CEO of Domino’s Pizza Group, UK/ROI Master Franchisee, from 2014 until 2020… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Costa Coffee has opened its first drive-thru store in China in the Pudong District of Shanghai, adding to its existing portfolio of around 400 outlets in China. Tributes have been paid to former Restaurant Group chairman, Alan Jackson, who died over the Christmas period at the age of 79. Mr Jackson worked at Whitbread for 18 years between 1973 and 1991 and he chaired The Restaurant Group from March 2001 to 2016. Vegetable processing company Troy Foods Limited entered administration on 30 November. The company struggled with raw material cost inflation and passing the extra costs through to its customers and had been loss-making for a sustained period. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: A number of countries, including the US, are considering imposing new Covid restrictions on Chinese arrivals in response to the country relaxing Covid restrictions whilst a large Covid wave is passing through the country. Beijing said coronavirus rules should be brought in on a “scientific” basis. Sky News reports that arrivals into the UK from China are expected to need to take a negative Covid test before flying. Travellers from China will have to take tests and will only be allowed to fly to the UK if negative within 48 hours of departure, according to reports. Airports body ACI Europe has said that unilateral action by various countries to require testing for arriving passengers from China is a negative move… OTHER LEISURE: Cineworld has updated on its Chapter 11 bankruptcy position saying that its plan ‘seeks to maximise value for the benefit of moviegoers and all other stakeholders. Those discussions [with stakeholders] remain ongoing. The company says that ‘neither it nor its advisers have participated in discussions with AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. regarding the sale of any of its cinema assets. Cineworld also understands that neither the ad hoc group of lenders under the Group’s 2018 credit facility nor its advisers were party to discussions with AMC…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Meta has agreed a $725m settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit related to the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal… Tesla says it delivered a record 1.3m vehicles last year, up 40% on 2021. FINANCE & MARKETS: The Telegraph reports the CEBR’s comment that the government’s tax increases ‘will leave Britain stagnating on the world stage’. The CEBR says ‘a higher interest rate and high-tax environment are set to weigh on the UK’s growth prospects for much of the coming decade.’ The Nationwide has reported a fourth consecutive monthly fall in UK house prices, the worst run since 2008. It says the annual rate of growth has now (for the year to December) been dragged down to 2.8% compared with 4.4% in November. The IMF says a third of the global economy will be in recession in 2023. Sterling $1.2068 and €1.1318 (weaker vs 22 Dec). Oil up at $85.99. UK 10yr gilt yield up 10bps from 22 Dec at 3.67%. World markets mixed (where trading) yesterday and London set to open up around 11pts 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. |
|
