C&C, Time Out, FDEV, April Tracker, closures, food prices & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

I know that punctuation matters (e.g. ‘let’s eat, grandma’ or ‘let’s eat grandma’) but so does word order.

I mean if, after having a home-cooked meal, you say ‘I think that was great’, you may have a restful evening but, if you say ‘that was great, I think’, then maybe not so much.

And leaving just too long a pause in the wrong place can achieve much the same result.

Ditto a question mark. Consider ‘you look fantastic’ versus ‘you look….[shuffle, twitch, rapid blinking]…fantastic?’

Anyway, we could go on but, after the veritable blizzard of ‘out-of-office’ replies that greeted the email yesterday, it’s not clear just how many are in the office this half-term week.

So there’s plenty of time to read a book. Here is the paperback copy.

On to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Pub closures:

The British Beer & Pub Association reports that some 15,800 pubs have been lost to the UK over the last 25 years. The number is closures net of new openings and represents a drop from 60,800 in 2000 to around 45,000 now…

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Eating out market:

Lumina Intelligence’s Eating Out Market Report 2025 has suggested that the UK eating out market is should grow by 2.6% to a total value of £101bn in revenue terms in 2025. It says that growth is particularly noticeable in affluent and urban areas, including London….

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Tax rises:

It’s mired in politics but some observers are suggesting taxes will rise again in the autumn. Red lines would have to be scrapped – or bent – but, as this has happened before, a fiscal squeeze is not out of the question. This would have a negative impact on consumption…

Jobs market:

Whilst this is softening on most measures, construction company Glenigan has reported that ‘project starts across the UK rose by 33% in the three months to April 2025, offering short-term relief in a sector still facing significant challenges. Despite this rise, total activity remains 17% down year on year, and contract awards have fallen by 10%…

Food prices:

Protein took much of the blame for yesterday’s BRC announcement that food price inflation had blipped up…

Other news:

In the US: Technomic’s Top 500 data suggests that restaurant sales in the US rose by 3.1% on an annual basis last year. It reports that ‘top 500 chain sales climbed by just 3.1% in 2024, the lowest annual increase observed over the last 10 years outside of 2020’s pandemic-influenced 8% decline.’ Technomic adds that ‘sales have increased by an average annual rate of 5.6% over the last five years across all Top 500 chains…’

HOSPITALITY SALES TRACKER:

Warm weather has unsurprisingly provided a boost for the pubs, less so restaurants. The latest CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker reports that ‘Britain’s managed pub groups enjoyed a bright April with like-for-like sales growth of 9.1%.’ It adds that restaurant LFL sal4s fell by 0.9% but overall managed hospitality sales were up by 4.2% across all outlets. The Tracker says that the performance ‘follows a month of warm weather that encouraged consumers into pub gardens and terraces.’ Overall, this ‘represents a strong start to the second quarter of 2025 after year-on-year drops of 1.3% and 0.6% in January and March and growth of just 0.1% in February….’

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C&C FULL YEAR NUMBERS:

As flagged at its earlier update, C&C reports revenues in line with last year at €1.67bn (FY24: €1.65bn). Again as flagged, turnover mix has changed with 8% more distribution accounts no active but some product reductions as the company has exited low-margin areas of its business. The quality of the business mix may be said to have improved and the operating margin has risen by a percentage point from 3.63% to 4.63%. Operating profit, at €77m, is in line with March guidance. Adjusted PBT is €55.9m against €38.8m, up some 44%. EPS is also up 44% at 11.7c versus 8.1c in FY24. The proposed final dividend is 4.13c, taking the total for the year to 6.13c (FY24: 5.86c).

Outlook: C&C is leaving FY26 guidance unchanged. The company expects some further moderation in inflationary pressures and points out that, on the product side, most of its commodity costs are fixed for the year. Warmer spring weather has been helpful and the group says that it has made an encouraging start to the year.

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COMPANY NEWS:

Time Out Group plc yesterday reported that it has entered into a franchise agreement with Quint Digital Limited (QDL), India’s leading media-tech company, to launch Time Out India. It adds that QDL will also have a three-year exclusive option for the franchisee to explore future opportunities in India to invest in, open and operate Time Out Markets on behalf of and in alignment with the Group’s global Time Out Market concept…

Red Engine, the hospitality group behind the bars Flight Club and Electric Shuffle, yesterday announced the launch of its charitable foundation and the release of its inaugural Impact Report. This follows the establishment of the group’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme, Yellow Ball, in 2024. The 2025 Red Engine Impact Report outlines the business’s key CSR achievements to year end 2024 and its goals for 2025 and beyond.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Anti travel. The London congestion charge could be set to rise to £18 per day.

OTHER LEISURE:

Frontier Developments plc has today updated on trading for the 12 months ending 31 May 2025 saying that ‘revenue for FY25 is expected to be approximately £90 million (FY24: £89.3 million), which is ahead of expectations through strong performances across Frontier’s game portfolio.’ The company says ‘the better-than-expected revenue performance, further boosted with a gain of £3.5 million on the sale of the publishing rights for the Foundry game Stranded: Alien Dawn (which is not accounted for as revenue), will deliver stronger-than-expected profitability in FY25 and a higher-than-expected cash position….’

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Playtech reports that it ‘has reached an agreement with NetX Betting Ltd., a subsidiary of the Frankfurt listed German operator, pferdewetten.de AG regarding HAPPYBET.’ It says that ‘pfederwetten.de is being given the opportunity to contract with franchise partners for the HAPPYBET shops in Germany, subject to negotiations with those franchise partners. As part of this agreement, Pfedermwetten.de will also assume ownership of certain associated hardware….’

Evoke has announced ‘the establishment of a new Technology Committee of the Board effective immediately.’ It says this ‘will provide Board-level oversight of evoke’s major technology investments and initiatives, ensuring alignment with business strategy, risk management, and operational effectiveness….’

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Tesla sales in Europe fell by 49% in Europe (including the UK) last month. April saw the company sales drop by 52% in the EU down to 5,475 units, from 11,540 a year before.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

The IMF has upgraded its growth forecast for the UK saying GDP should rise by 1.2% this year and by 1.4% next. It warns the Chancellor against breaching her own rules on spending. The IMF had been looking for 1.1% growth this year. The IMF has further warned that UK chancellor Rachel Reeves may need to change her fiscal rules if she is to prevent the need for emergency spending cuts.

Zoopla reports that homes are selling in the UK for around 4.5% below their asking price.

In the US, the Conference Board reports that after five straight months of declines, consumer confidence edged up in May to 98.0, up from April’s 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020. The Board reports that ‘the rebound was already visible before the May 12 US-China trade deal but gained momentum afterwards.’

Sterling little changed at $1.3470 and €1.1919. Oil slightly higher at $64.44. UK 10 year gilt yield down 1 basis point at 4.67%. World markets mostly better yesterday and London due to open around 5 points higher as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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