Langton Capital – 2023-01-18 – Just Eat, Dec Tracker, Dec inflation, labour issues, strikes & other:
Section TitleJust Eat, Dec Tracker, Dec inflation, labour issues, strikes & other: A DAY IN THE LIFE: Dubbin got an honourable mention in our email yesterday. That dated me and, as a product that apparently fell from favour some time when King Charles was in short trousers, I had been faced with several blank stares when I’d originally tried to make a purchase. However, I did manage to buy some but the difficulty in so doing led to me Googling it to find out whether it was a brand name like Hoover or simply a type of product and it turns out to be the latter. It can be made from beeswax, fish oil, lard or tallow, with the last three very much explaining why the dog has been trying to chew my boots for the last month. It’s used to waterproof leather, predominantly boots and, given its consistency, it could equally well be used to waterproof a sieve. Lesson over, 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 Partially sent separately Weds 18 Jan 23. DECEMBER TRACKER: Headlines: CGA reports ‘hospitality toasts best December in three years, but real term sales lag pre-COVID.’ The Tracker says the ‘festive celebrations and World Cup boost pubs’ and adds ‘London’s COVID revival continues but rail strikes dampen parties.’ The numbers: The Tracker ‘shows like-for-like December sales were 15.0% ahead of December 2021, when festive trading was hit by concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID.’ It adds ‘sales were only 2.0% ahead of December 2019, and after adjustments for double-digit inflation, they are significantly behind…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. JUST EAT TAKEAWAY – Q4 UPDATE: Just Eat Takeaway has this morning reported Q4 numbers and our comments thereon update are set out below: The numbers: Just Eat Takeaway reports total orders of €239.8m in Q4, down from €273.7m in the prior year. It reports Gross Transaction Value was down 2% at €7.1bn. The company reports that it ‘generated Adjusted EBITDA amounting to approximately €150 million (or 1.1% of GTV) in H2 2022, representing a material improvement from minus €134 million in H1 2022.’ It says this was ‘driven by improved Revenue per Order, Delivery costs per Order and Overheads & Opex.’… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Inflation: The ONS has updated on inflation saying that the rate of CPI was 10.5% in the year to December, down from 10.7% in the year to November… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Labour issues: UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has said the ONS labour market figures ‘reinforce the challenging recruitment landscape hospitality businesses are facing, with vacancy rates still 63% higher than pre-pandemic levels…Our latest quarterly survey showed staff pay was up 12%, joining energy, food and drink as the most significantly rising business costs…’ The Resolution Foundation comments on the labour market, saying ‘vacancies have now fallen for seven months in a row on the ONS’ headline measure…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Train strikes: Aslef train drivers are set to strike on 1 & 3 February after union bosses rejected a pay offer from rail companies. The strikes will come as another blow to city centre-based hospitality businesses, with the strikes falling on a Wednesday & Friday… The ONS reports that 467,000 working days were lost to strikes in November 2022, the highest for November since 2011. For 2022 as a whole, the number of strike days reached a 30-year high with 1.9 million work days missed. Pub companies (relationship with licensees): KAM has undertaken a survey of 1,600 licensees at 17 pub companies and family brewers and says they ‘have given a thumbs up to the support they have received from their pub companies as they begin to move forward post-pandemic.’ KAM MD Katy Moses says ‘given the last few years we have all had, it is even more critical than ever that pub companies stay close to their licensees…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Other news: Gunner Cocktails reports that 50% of Brits say the cost-of-living crisis will stop them from buying alcohol… Lumina Intelligence reports that the lunch daypart increased its share by 1.8% in the 4 weeks to 25 December 2022, with the increase driven by affordability… COMPANY NEWS: Cooks Coffee is planning to open seven new coffee shops before the end of March… Blank Table, the Wendy’s franchisee, will open its first UK drive thru on 23 January, located at Brampton Hut on the A1/A14 intersection. This will be Wendy’s second franchisee location in the UK. 800° Degrees Pizza and REEF Technologies are set to open their first UK restaurant this month, located at Gravity Wandsworth, with two further sites due to open in the next three months. The Californian-based pizzeria describes its offer as ‘pizza, wings and more’. Hooters is set to open in Salford Quays this year, despite objections from high profile groups and people, including Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. The company aims to open by the middle of the year or towards the end of 2023. Revolution Bars Group shares yesterday fell by 27% to 5.4p on the back of its H1 trading update. The Press focuses on reduced hours, not opening Monday and Tuesday etc in order to save costs. Begbies Traynor has been lined up as administrators for Paperchase as the company eyes another pre-pack administration. Earlier this month the stationery chain had been put up for sale; four months following its latest ownership change. DoorDash and Starbucks in the US announced yesterday that Starbucks delivery will now be available via DoorDash nationwide by March 2023. It says ‘as customer behaviours evolve, we continue to innovate the Starbucks experience.’ HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Eurocontrol has warned of a risk of ‘major’ delays to flights this summer following the widespread disruption of last year… NYC & Company, New York’s official destination marketing organisation, forecasts the city will attract 61.7 million visitors in 2023, after a 2022’s rebound saw 56.4 million travellers visit (up 71.4% YoY). The figures for last year broke down to 47.4 million domestic visitors and 8.9 million international visitors. Frankfurt airport reports it handled 48.9 million passengers in 2022, nearly double that of 2021, but still 30% below 2019’s record 70.6 million. Operator Fraport said business travel was recovering ‘steadily’ towards the end of the year. OTHER LEISURE: Microsoft is reported set to lay off ‘thousands’ of staff. FINANCE & MARKETS: For December inflation numbers see Pubs & Restaurants above. Andrew Bailey has told MPs that inflation could / should fall ‘rapidly’ when energy price hikes annualise… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Commenting on yesterday’s labour market stats, the CBI says ‘the continued evidence of younger and older workers returning to employment is welcome news…’ Also on the tight labour market, the BCC says the ‘figures will come as no surprise to businesses up and down the country who are desperately trying to fill record numbers of vacant roles…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The Bank of England has warned that Brexit freedoms in the City of London risk triggering an Equitable Life-style scandal that could leave policyholders nursing huge losses. Sterling up at $1.2275 and €1.139. Oil up at $86.86. UK 10yr gilt yield down 5bps at 3.34%. World markets mixed yesterday and London set to open unchanged 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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