Various Eateries, tracker sales, EOTHO, SAGA & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

This is a short email being sent early but hopefully nonetheless riveting for that. On to the news:

LANGTON PREMIUM EMAIL:

Langton produces a premium email alongside the free version that you receive. It’s about 100 lines longer than the free version (depending on what’s going on) and includes analysis and opinion.

If you would like an example, please let us know.

Corporate Offer: Annual subscription 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.

COFFER PEACH TRACKER: August sales register bounce: 11 Sept 2020:

Summary:

• The Coffer Peach Tracker for August reports that ‘food-led pub and restaurant groups get August sales back on track.’

• It says ‘restaurants see biggest boost from Eat Out To Help Out’

• Regionally, London is still the least buoyant territory

• And ‘delivery’s share of sales still up on pre-lockdown’. See Premium Email for more detail

PUB & RESTAURANT NEWS:

EOTHO:

• See also Tracker above.

• Fourth and Wireless Social have commented on the positive impact of Eat Out to Help Out on footfall and scheduled hours

• The companies say their data reveals a steady increase in the number of scheduled hours across the industry over recent months, with August generating a significant spike.

• Fourth says ‘the month of August was very encouraging across the board for the hospitality industry.’ It says ‘while this is incredibly positive for the industry, and a vast number of workers are returning from furlough, we are heading into the traditionally challenging autumn period.’

• Wireless Social says ‘the fact that August saw such a significant rise in footfall across the industry is very encouraging indeed. People wanted to take advantage of the brilliant Eat Out to Help Out scheme and get back out with their friends and family in their favourite places.’

• It says ‘however, the next few weeks and months are going to be very challenging, particularly in cities like London where large swathes of the workforce will continue to work from home, likely meaning that many restaurants, pubs and cafes will continue to trade at far lower levels for longer than other parts of the country.’

• It says this ‘is why we’re backing UK Hospitality’s latest initiative, calling on the Prime Minister and Mayor of London to support hospitality businesses in the Capital, giving them the opportunity to stay afloat and get back to what they do best.’

• Kam Media says ‘the hospitality industry NPS has bounced right back, exceeding pre-lockdown levels, following a significant dip for many segments during EOTHO. It says ‘dirty tables are the driver for an increasing number of customer complaints – this should be an easy fix but it seems more and more customers are noticing this week by week.’

Other Covid-19 issues:

• New West End says West End footfall was down 2% week-on-week on Wednesday, 9 September. Compared to the same day last year, footfall was down 57%

• Nicola Sturgeon has said that face coverings will be made mandatory in hospitality settings when moving around and not eating or drinking.

• A report in the US has found a lack of trust in returning to workplaces: Edelman says only around half of surveyed workers thought their workplaces were safe.

• The latest data from the We Hear You campaign, an initiative driven by Yumpingo, CGA and UK Hospitality to help the industry navigate the ‘new normal’ by using guest feedback, reveals that 80% of guests felt reassured by their dining experience to visit the same venue again.

Company news:

• Various Eateries has announced its intention to list its shares on AIM. Admission is expected to take place end of September/early October 2020. The Company intends to raise up to £25 million by way of a placing of its Ordinary Shares on Admission.

• Various Eateries says it has an ‘exceptional leadership team – members of the VE Board have created some of the UK’s largest and most well-known hospitality groups. Between them, they have opened more than 400 new sites and have generated attractive returns for investors since the mid-1990s.’

• Hugh Osmond, Andy Bassadone and CEO Yishay Malkov have an impressive pedigree. The two core brands are Coppa Club & Tavolino. It has ten sites in operation, with five sites in London and five sites outside, providing a platform to scale organically at pace

• VE says there is an ‘unprecedented growth opportunity – the Directors believe site availability, acquisition opportunities, reduced competition, availability of talent and changes in consumer behaviour provide opportunities to accelerate the Group’s growth.’

• Hugh Osmond says ‘I believe that Covid-19 is the biggest event to hit the UK economy outside of war-time. Whilst I deplore the terrible effect it has had on our industry, we are confident that there will be major opportunities for a well funded group with strong management to build a fantastic business in the aftermath of Covid.’

• He says ‘the funds raised will be principally used to take advantage of the opportunities and accelerate growth. Our senior team has an established track record of acquiring, converting and opening sites and, with, what we perceive to be, the availability of premium sites at attractive rents, I believe the prospects for Coppa Club and Tavolino are exciting.’

• Osmond adds ‘there are also a number of well-known brands out there that are struggling to navigate the pandemic and various other industry pressures. Should the right opportunities present themselves, we would consider supplementing our organic growth through acquisition, offering distressed brands a more sustainable future as part of the Group.’

• Brewdog is launching a £7.5m crowdfunding round. It has attacked Boris Johnson over his lack of action on climate change

• Caffe Nero is the latest operator to appoint advisors to seek rent cuts from landlords. The company is working with KPMG

Other news:

• Yesterday we suggested that UKH had combined with union, Unite, to set up a website, HospitalityUnite. This isn’t the case and the use of the word is coincidental.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

• SAGA has raised £74.8 million via a share placing

• Commenting on the London hotel market, STR says occupancy in August was down 64%, rate was down 43% and REVPAR was down 80%. The boom in staycations has to be taken in perspective.

• Looking on the bright side, STR says ‘each of the three key performance metrics were up from July levels, while the occupancy and RevPAR levels were London’s highest since March. Regional markets in the U.K. continue to outperform capital cities.’

• Jet2holidays has extended the suspension of its package holidays to Greek islands Zante and Crete.

• Mainland Portugal has been added to the quarantine list for England

• IATA says UK air transport needs an “urgent rescue plan” in the face of an “imminent unemployment catastrophe”.

• IAG has finalised a €2.75 billion fund raising backed by largest shareholder Qatar Airways. The company says the proceeds will allow it to withstand a more “prolonged downturn” in air travel

• SAGA has shut down Destinology after plans to sell it fell through.

• The US Travel Association says that the travel industry in the US has lost $360bn in revenue due to Covid-19 to date.

• TUI is offering £1000 off holidays costing £1,000 or more to be taken in September.

FINANCE & ECONOMICS:

• Sterling lower at $1.2807 and €1.0809. Oil down at $40.01. UK 10yr gilt yield down 1bp at 0.23%. World markets mixed.

START THE DAY WITH A SONG:

The song has been furloughed. See you on the other side.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

• Yesterdat’s Press (1): The invaluable Guardian press briefing email highlights that the front-page headlines are focused on the news that the hapless Government is introducing a new rule banning gatherings of more than six people because of renewed pandemic fears…“There goes Christmas”, the Daily Mail laments today, as it calls the new rule “draconian” and the Telegraph is also gloomy (“Christmas to bring little cheer”) and the Times takes a similar line with “PM fears threat to Christmas”, whilst the Guardian itself highlights the “PM’s £100bn gamble to avoid second national lockdown”. The FT goes with “Johnson is accused of Brexit nadir with threat to rewrite EU treaty”.

• Yesterday’s Press (2): The terms of Retailing stories, there is plenty of coverage of the news that 125,000 Retail jobs have been lost this year and Pizza Hut is closing more stores, together with the news that the controversial new CVA plan from the embattled New Look seems likely to fail, with the Business editorial in the Telegraph flagging that hard-pressed Retail landlords have to face the prospect that the business will now go bust.  The Telegraph also highlights that Tesco is preparing to trial Grocery delivery by drone. The Times notes that Liberum, one of the few independent brokers not involved in the IPO, has come out with a bullish view  of The Hut, calling it a “gem of a business” that could be worth £7bn to £7.5bn. And the Tempus investment column in the Times looks in detail at Burberry and says the shares are a Buy.

• JD Sports Paris Watch: Having flagged yesterday that JD Sports has just opened a flagship store on the Rue de Rivoli in the centre of Paris, we read yesterday that the Store Design expert John Ryan has featured the store on his Newstores blog: “In terms of high profile sports stores, 1200 sq m may not sound much, but the JD Sports stores on Paris’ Rue de Rivoli is notable if only because it has been a long time coming…and in spite of this it has garnered little coverage. Opened last month, the store is on a wraparound corner site and trades from three floors and has a raft of VR and digital initiatives”.

TRADING STATEMENTS & EVENTS:

Upcoming results are set out below:

• 16 Sept 20 Loungers FY numbers

• 24 Sept 20 Safestay H1 numbers

• 28 Sept 20 Diageo AGM

• 28 Sept 20 Time Out AGM

• 30 Sept 20 Compass Group FY update

• 30 Sept 20 Everyman Media H1 numbers

• 30 Sept 20 888 Holdings H1 numbers

• 1 Oct 20 Pepsi Q3 numbers

• 1 Oct 20 Constellation Brands Q2 numbers

• 6 Oct 20 Restaurant Group H1 numbers

• 9 Oct 20 JD Wetherspoon FY numbers

• 22 Oct 20 Gear 4 Music trading update

• By 31 Oct 20 DP Poland H1 numbers

• 3 Nov 20 DART Group AGM

• 17 Nov 20 Gear 4 Music H1 numbers

• 19 Nov 20 Dart Group H1 numbers

• 24 Nov 20 Compass Group FY numbers

• 26 Nov 20 Britvic FY numbers

Many results are likely to be delayed. For information purposes, the results below were delivered at these dates last year.

2019 COMPARATIVE RESULTS:

15 Aug 19 Vianet trading update, 22 Aug 19 Playtech H1, 22 Aug 19 Sportech H1, 28 Aug 19 Loungers FY results, 28 Aug 19 Fulham Shore AGM, 30 Aug 19 Gear 4 Music AGM, 6 Sep 19 Greene King AGM, 10 Sep 19 888 Holdings H1, 12 Sep 19 Comptoir H1, 19 Sep 19 Diageo AGM, 19 Sep 19 City Pub Group H1, 19 Sep 19 Saga H1, 23 Sep 19 Brighton Pier Group FY, 24 Sep 19 TUI Group FY trading update, 24 Sep 19 DP Poland H1, 24 Sep 19 Ten Entertainment H1, 24 Sep 19 Hotel Chocolat FY, 24 Sep 19 AG Barr trading update, 24 Sep 19 Tasty H1, 25 Sep 19 Shepherd Neame FY, 26 Sep 19 Time Out H1, 26 Sep 19 M&B FY trading update, 26 Sep 19 SSP FY update. 27 Sep 19 Escape Hunt H1

YESTERDAY’S TWEETS:

• Nothing yesterday

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.