Insolvency stats, prices, confidence, Heineken, Holiday Extras & other

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

It’s felt like a long week and, I suppose, at five working days it has been as long as it gets.

And it’s nearly the weekend but, having been promised better weather over the next few days and into next week, it now seems clear that the UK has been comprehensively swerved by the promised heatwave.

Indeed, with the grass already sodden and getting on for a foot long in the swampy wasteland that we call a garden, it looks as though rain is now suggested on 12 of the next 13 days according to the BBC’s weather app.

However, as it was said app that was promising the heatwave, there is always hope. Have a good weekend and let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Consumer prices:

The ONS reports that the average cost of a pint of draught lager soared by 11.9% in the year to March 2023, up by 48p to £4.50…

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Consumer confidence:

GfK has reported that UK consumer confidence was up by six points in April, albeit to only minus thirty. It asks ‘as all measures jump, are we seeing early signs of recovery?’ It says ‘all measures were up in comparison to last month’s announcement…’

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Return to ‘normality’.

Interesting to note comments and numbers from Netflix, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Audioboom (podcasts) and others this week alone that have pointed to a ‘return to normality’ that has involved lower sales for some, higher sales for others.

Market segments:

The MCA reports that Lumina Intelligence’s Operator Data Index shows that the QSR market is forecast to expand in value by £1.8bn from 2019-2023 as consumers chase value during the cost of living crisis…

Insolvencies:

INSOLVENCY STATS – MARCH 2023.

The Insolvency Service has published its monthly numbers for March. This has been running since Covid impacted in Q1 2020 and is intended to give an almost-real-time signal as to how the economy is performing. In March 2023, there was a total of 2,457 registered company insolvencies across England and Wales, 104 in Scotland and 12 in Northern Ireland…

COMPANY NEWS:

Heineken Q1 beer volumes fell by 3%, faster than average expectations of a 1.9% decline…

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Deliveroo shares were up 2.7% yesterday on Q1 numbers that showed it was currently outperforming the competition.

Tesco is to open a pub for the King’s Coronation at 61 Cowcross Street, Farringdon, called The King in the Castle…

Luckin Coffee opened 1,167 sites in China in its Q1, averaging 13 a day and bringing the chain to 9,381 coffee shops. The company is expanding rapidly via a franchised model with many sites being delivery-only or pick-up points with little or no in-store seating.

JAB-owned Pret a Manger is set to open in Indian city Mumbai’s financial district today.

Daniel Thwaites pub The Red Lion in Burnsall it to re-open after an £850k restoration project.

Proximo, owner of Bushmills Irish Whiskey, has unveiled its £37m Causeway Distillery located on Ireland’s north coast. The new distillery will double production at the Bushmills site and is part of a £60m investment into the company’s Irish single malt distilling facility over the past 5 years.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Sky News reports that Holiday Extras is considering an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. It quotes travel industry sources as saying that the timing and size of a flotation were yet to be determined.

Roomzzz Aparthotels launches its first Scottish location in Edinburgh on 19 May, featuring 74 serviced apartments in St James Quarter.

Security staff at Heathrow airport are to strike on 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 25, 26 and 27 May, with the disruption set to cause ‘inevitable disruption and delays’ according to Unite. Heathrow has so far offered a 10% pay increase since January, but in talks last week it said it had improved that with a further £1,150 lump sum.

US Travel Association figures show direct spending on travel in the US at $1.2 trillion, level with pre-pandemic figures. Travel spending generated nearly $160 billion in total tax revenue, including $84 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2022. The sector supported 15 million workers in the US, including eight million directly employed by the travel industry.

OTHER LEISURE:

Buzzfeed is reported set to close its news site and cut 15% of its workforce. The media company has been hit by a slump in ad spend. Buzzfeed took over HuffPost some two years ago.

Data from Lloyds Bank has suggested that the number of reported concert and festival scams have increased 529% over the past year.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Rising rents are reported to be pushing people, presumably younger people, into home ownership. This is said to be supporting the values of some properties…

Interest rates very likely to rise in May & could hit 5.0% by the end of the yar. This will impact affordability in the property market & it will also take more money out of consumers’ pockets.

Flash PMI readings are out later this morning.

Sterling mixed at $1.243 and €1.134. Oil lower at $81.03. UK 10yr gilt yield down 10pts at 3.75%. World markets mostly lower yesterday but London set to open up around 2pts as at 6.30am.

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