Langton Capital – 2020-06-09 – PREMIUM – Nervous consumers, reopening, 2m rule, rent, Fuller’s, Jet2 etc.:
Nervous consumers, reopening, 2m rule, rent, Fuller’s, Jet2 etc.:A DAY IN THE LIFE: I don’t want to become ‘that grumpy old pedant in the corner’ but, as several of my kids have told me that horse has long-since bolted, I’ll just point out that it’s a close run thing as to which word’s misuse most annoys me, ‘literally’ or ‘decimated’. Because nobody’s world has ‘literally fallen to pieces’ and nor has their head ‘literally exploded’ but, trying to persuade them to substitute the word ‘somewhat’ is somewhat of a lost cause and in this case it literally falls on deaf ears. And the lockdown hasn’t ‘decimated’ pub sales. It has centimated them but, as the latter isn’t really even a word, we’d settle for ‘clobbered’ or ‘walloped’ or ‘mullered’ etc because, in a world usually known for its hyperbole, decimated in its modern usage doesn’t usually go nearly far enough. There, I literally feel better now. And here, while the Cabinet once again discuss what to do about lockdown, is a quote from The Plague by Albert Camus: ‘Destruction is an easier, speedier process than reconstruction…’ You can say that again Bertie. On to the news: LANGTON PREMIUM EMAIL: Corporate Offer: Premium email just £295 (plus VAT) for a single subscriber or £495 (plus VAT) for multiple subscribers. Drop us a line to get involved. Retail Offer: Easy in, easy out. £30 per month (inclusive of VAT, £25 net) via PayPal. Email us for details or check here. ADVERTISE WITH US: Langton’s free email now carries adverts. See front page of website for today’s copy & contact us for further details. SEE PREMIUM EMAIL. Convoy theory. The hospitality industry is based on socialising. If certain members of a group don’t want to come out, what will the others do? Young people. Surveys suggest they may be the most willing and able to come out but, unfortunately, their ‘intentionally crowded’ units may be amongst the last to reopen. CONVOY THEORY: The speed of the slowest. Some consumers are washing the food they bring back from the supermarket. How and when can they be persuaded to visit pubs & other leisure venues? 9 Jun 20: The backdrop: • Long before it became clear that a lockdown was necessary, it was clear that the country’s health and its financial interests could end up in conflict. See Premium Email YOUNGER CONSUMERS. Willing to spend but not able? Surveys suggest younger consumers are keener to return to normal but will their venues be open? 9 Jun 20: Introduction: See Premium Email. FOR TOMORROW: Running out of time yet again but we will write tomorrow on the below. Please ping us any thoughts or suggestions: 1. Administrations. There is a well-trod path (appoint advisors, explore options, advisor becomes administrator, try to sell the business, partially do so, partial shutdown & redundancies) and there are a lot of companies on it. 2. Debt. There is a lot of it about. Some is called, simply, debt (be it bank of government loans) but the rest is masquerading as delayed VAT payments, rolled up rents, unpaid bills and the like. PUB & RESTAURANT NEWS: Reopening issues: No clear guidance as to dates. • The trade has been reacting to the surprise news that a 22 June opening was now being considered. That’s not long enough to brew beer and barely long enough to clean up units, brush the rust of kitchens and cut the grass in beer gardens let alone de-hibernate your staff. • The BBPA has called for ‘urgent clarity and a definitive date for when beer gardens will be allowed to open.;’ It also says that all pubs ‘must be free to reopen from 4th July.’ • This follows speculation that pub beer gardens will be allowed to re-open on 22nd June. A group of MPs is said to be pushing for this, but the timing is now tight. • The BBPA has reiterated that ‘pubs need a minimum of three weeks’ notice to get ready to re-open. Likewise, beer will need to be brewed in that time and delivered to pubs for when they re-open. If beer gardens are to open from 22nd June, then pubs and brewers need to know now as it only gives them two weeks to get ready.’ • Many outlets would settle for the chance to sell bottled beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks, even if they did not have time to sell freshly-brewed beer. Brewers must also decide when to push the button on real ales as, if the date is pushed forward, beer will have to be literally poured down the drain. • The BBPA has maintained for some time that around 27,000 of the UK’s c47,000 pubs have beer gardens. But, it says, it ‘is not immediately clear how many of those pubs with beer gardens will re-open without a definitive date, sufficient notice to plan their reopening, and the final safety guidelines, specifically a decision on the two metres versus one metre social distancing rule.’ • BBPA CEO Emma McClarkin says ‘we urgently need a clear decision on whether we can re-open pub beer gardens early. We also seek urgent confirmation from the Government on a definitive date when pub beer gardens will be able to open.’ Ms McClarkin says ‘our industry needs confirmed and definitive dates so we can get pubs ready for re-opening.’ Toilet facilities are clearly going to be an issue at some point. • The cabinet will meet today to discuss further moves to relax the lockdown. The 2m rule: • The FT reports that more than half the cabinet is now in favour of reducing the 2m rule. PM Boris Johnson is also said to be keen on the move. Senior MPs may be trying to judge the public mood. Jobs or health? The FT quotes a ‘government figure’ as saying ‘the scientists have been quite firm on this [the 2m rule]. At the moment Sage is definitely not inclined to reduce the guidance.’ • At some point, this was always going to be a political decision. Various ministers have said they were ‘guided by the science’. It is possible, indeed likely, that there will be some divergence in the coming weeks. Business Secretary Alok Sharma has said that 3.5m jobs would be at risk if the distance is not removed and the economy opened up ‘by the summer’. • Sky reports that the scientists and politicians may, at some point soon, be at odds as to whether it is safe to reopen the economy. Professor John Edmonds told Andrew Marr on Sunday that it was a political decision as to whether and when to allow free movement. He said that, with a natural R of 3.0 to 3.5, the disease could very rapidly reappear. In March, the number of infections was doubling every 2-3 days. • Sky says that the ‘new normal’ that we are being led to expect seems to be changing every week. Matt Hancock told Sophie Ridge that ‘the plan and the strategy hasn’t changed.’ That didn’t go down too well for Mrs May when she tried it on the Press at the height of the Dementia Tax row. • The BII suggests that a quarter of pubs expect to pay up to £3,000 to ensure the safety of their customers. Other Covid-19 issues: • Sky News reports that UK Hospitality has called on PM Boris Johnson to support the hospitality industry, particularly when it comes to rents. The Q3 payment is due in a little over two weeks’ time. Hospitality companies have had little or no income since their last rent bills became due on 25 March. • The landlords for many operators have deferred (perhaps making a virtue out of a necessity, as many tenants simply were not paying it) March rents to the week after next. In many cases, legally, six months’ rent will be due in just a fortnight’s time. • Needs must when the devil drives and, at the end of the day, the rent due above will, in many, many cases, simply not be paid. • London Union CEO Jonathan Downey has said that he is writing a second letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak asking for a 12 month #NationalTimeOut on rents. He says this should be comprised of a rent-free period whilst a business is closed + a turnover rent once open again. He says that the terms could be adjusted for units that have been able to open for delivery and collection. He suggests a turnover rent of 10% or a fixed rent of 25% of the prior rent figure. Landlords, clearly, would not be happy with this. • Foodservice analyst Peter Backman has said that the rate of redundancies in the hospitality industry could pick up over the coming weeks if the 2m rule is not relaxed. The Restaurant Group is to permanently close units, Boparan is not taking all of Carluccio’s sites and the CGA says a third of operators have decided to close sites with another third as yet undecided. • Mr Backman points out that, given the notice period and redundancy payments that need to be made to laid-off staff, some firms may be counting backwards from the end of the furlough scheme in its current form (August). Having done that, they may decide to lay off workers in the next couple of weeks. • Interestingly Lookers, not our stock, said yesterday that it would have to delay its full year numbers beyond the FCA’s six month (end-June) deadline because it could not agree numbers with its auditors in time. These discussions will be taking place across a large number of companies. Lookers is going to have to suspend its shares. Lookers says also ‘Deloitte has indicated to the Company that it intends to resign as auditor following the publication of the 2019 Results.’ • The number of consumers out and about in May was up on numbers seen in April. The Cummings row towards the end of the month may have put further pressure on a door that was already being pushed open. • Springboard reports that retail park footfall was down 55% in May on the same month last year. High Street and shopping centre footfall was down by 78% and 81% respectively. Company news: • Fuller’s has disposed of its pizza chain The Stable to Three Joes for an undisclosed sum. Three Joes says it has not yet decided whether or not to rebrand the sites. Fuller’s paid £7.3m for 51% of the then-six strong site in 2014. It has expanded it to 12 units since. • Time Out reports that, in addition to the placing it announced to raise £45m, it has raised gross proceeds of around £2.1m from its open offer. • Wagamama has said it could take it 6-9 months to fully reopen its estate. • Campari has bought a 49% interest in e-commerce platform Tannico. • Wahlburgers is to permanently shut its first restaurant in Europe, in London’s Covent Garden, after just a year of operation. Wahlburgers has around 25 sites in the US. • Mulberry is to cut a quarter of its workforce. Other issues • Retail shops open on Monday. Pragma Consulting comments on the likely performance of High Streets vs Retail Parks vs Shopping Centres and says ‘consumer sentiment and feedback from countries that have exited lockdown suggest that footfall will be significantly lower than prior to lockdown, at least for the first few weeks, but there are encouraging signs of recovery in Asia and Europe.’ • It says ‘the ease and cost of implementing the required [health and safety] initiatives will vary by type and size of destination, but it is those that are best able to make visitors feel safe that are likely to attract repeat visits and make shoppers move from purpose-driven trips to shopping as a leisure activity.’ HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: • Jet2holidays has postponed the resumption of its summer holiday flight programme to 15 July. It says ‘we know there is a lot of pent-up demand for our award-winning holidays, and we cannot wait to take customers away on their well-deserved holidays again.’ • Travel Weekly has quoted leisure travel accountant Chris Photi as saying that refund credit notes ‘are protected under ATOL’. He says ABTA would ‘have no option’ but to seek a judicial review if the CAA ruled otherwise. • EasyJet continues to threaten legal action regarding the UK’s now-live quarantine regulations. • Aparthotel operator Staycity is set to re-open properties to leisure and business guests across its European estate. • A survey of Advantage Travel Partnership travel agents suggests that 15% fear for the future of their businesses. • NH Hotel Group is to have 55 per cent of its portfolio of hotels worldwide open during the month of June. • MSC Cruises has extended the suspension of its operations through to 31 July. FINANCE & ECONOMICS: • Sterling unchanged at $1.2702 and €1.1253. Oil lower at $40.83. UK 10yr gilt yield down 2bps at 0.34. World markets mixed. London set to open up around 8pts. • The US economy slipped into recession in February per data from the National Bureau of Economic Research START THE DAY WITH A SONG: The song has been furloughed. See you on the other side. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • Today’s News: The small Online fashion business Sosandar has enlivened another quiet day in the sector by announcing a trading update. Unlike its giant rivals Boohoo and ASOS, the stockmarket has not seen little Sosandar as a winner from the lockdown and the shares have been struggling of late, with the market cap down to just £17m. And investors will not be happy to hear that the loss for y/e March is expected to be slightly higher than expected, because of gross margin pressure, but they should be reassured by the 62% sales growth achieved over the last 2 months and by the news that the company has the cash resources to withstand the current crisis.
• BRC Retail Sales figures for May (the 4 weeks to May 30th): We thought that today’s figures, which came out overnight, would show total sales at least 12% down (after the 19% slump in April), despite strong Online sales growth, but the outcome was “only” 5.9% down. Oddly enough, “LFL” sales were well up, by 7.9%, but this calculation excludes all the stores temporarily closed because of the lockdown and the surge in Online sales wasn’t “LFL”, as they clearly wouldn’t have been that strong but for all the store closures…Sticking to total sales, the BRC point to the weak comps in May as a reason for the more resilient sales last month, as last year the outcome was disappointingly weak (-3% LFL) because of the cool weather and a tough comp with 2018. The key Food/Non-Food split of total sales last month is buried within the 3-month moving averages (of +5.6% and -21.8% respectively), but • News Flow This Week: Later today the American owner of the H Samuel and Ernest Jones jewellery chains, Signet, has its Q1 results in the US. Tomorrow brings the interims from the West End landlord Shaftesbury and the finals from Joules, whilst on Thursday we get the B&M finals, as well as the Morrisons AGM and the Dignity AGM. TRADING STATEMENTS & EVENTS: Upcoming results are set out below: • 10 Jun 20 Shaftesbury H1 numbers • 11 Jun 20 Morrison’s AGM • 16 Jun 20 Coca Cola HBC AGM • 22 Jun 20 Saga AGM • 23 Jun 20 Gear4Music full year numbers • 23 Jun 20 – Cranswick FY numbers • 25 Jun 20 Fuller’s FY numbers • 26 Jun 20 Comptoir AGM • By end-June 20 Premier Foods FY numbers • 1 Jul 20 Constellation Brands Q1 • 7 Jul 20 Whitbread AGM • 13 Jul 20 Pepsi Q2 numbers • 23 Jul 20 C&C AGM Many results are likely to be delayed. For information purposes, the results below were delivered at these dates last year. 2019 COMPARATIVE RESULTS: • 11 Jul 19 Dart Group FY numbers, 16 Jul 19 Fulham Shore FY numbers, 17 Jul 19 Nichols H1 numbers, 24 Jul 19 Marston’s Q3 trading update, 25 Jul 19 Fuller’s FY numbers, 25 Jul 19 Compass Group Q3 update, 25 Jul 19 Diageo FY numbers, 30 Jul 19 Gregg’s H1 numbers, 31 Jul 19 M&B Q3 update YESTERDAY’S TWEETS: • Anybody considered yet the ‘convoy theory’ re the re-opening of hospitality venues? Groups will only come out to eat, drink & be merry at the speed of the most timid member of the group. • On similar lines, young people may be the most willing to come out again & the demographic least affected by the virus. But their venues, often ‘intentionally-crowded’, could be amongst the last to open. LANGTON CAPITAL: Made in Hull. Like all the best things. Langton Capital is a financial advisory company providing insightful views on the UK and global leisure industry and the wider consumer sector in general. Subscription to the daily email is free. Unsubscribing is painless. We provide daily off the shelf and bespoke research. We have helped with transactions, fund-raisings, disposals and other corporate issues. We have a good ear, we are impartial, independent and not half bad at what we do. If you think that we could help you or your business, drop us a line. |
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