Langton Capital – 2022-08-01 – Heineken, Nightcap, bus. confidence, cons. borrowing, how busy is busy etc:
Heineken, Nightcap, bus. confidence, cons. borrowing, how busy is busy etc:Heineken, Nightcap, bus. confidence, cons. borrowing, how busy is busy etc: A DAY IN THE LIFE: Well the mighty Hull City has stormed to (near) the top of the Championship (after one match, courtesy of some flimsy goal differences and the alphabet) after destroying Bristol City thanks to a 93rd minute goal that was a Hail Mary from long-distance that picked up a wicked deflection and landed in the back of the net. But they all count and, rather than commencing our relegation battle teatime on the first Saturday of the season, we’re now thinking of promotion and Europe the season after next. And, despite Voltaire saying ‘optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable,’ what could possibly go wrong with that plan? Anyway, the dog days are upon us. On to the news: LANGTON EMAIL: The Free Email is now written in short form. Extended versions of many stories 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 LOCKDOWN IS OVER, TOURISTS ARE BACK BUT… How busy is ‘busy enough…?’ Empirical evidence: This is notoriously unreliable. Crowded pavements and ‘busy’ pubs are one thing but the naked eye won’t tell you anything about costs or margins and it’s hard to tell whether a pub is 90% as busy as it was this time in 2019 because a) you won’t be able to remember and b) both will have looked ‘busy’… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595. PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Consumer behaviour: Figures from the Bank of England show that credit card borrowing last month increased at the fastest annual rate since 2005, whilst the amount of money being deposited into accounts plummeted… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595. Sport: The BBPA predicted before the Lionesses’ victory, that 10m pints could be sold this Sunday (31 July) during the UEFA Women’s Euro football finals as England takes on Germany. This could result in £40m coming into the sector, boosting trade by a third. Stonegate has commented on the boost to trade… Costs not evenly spread: Per The Sun, as many as 5,000 fish and chip shops could close due to increasing costs. The average price of a fish and chips meal could rise from £8.50 to £11.50. Hake and other types of white fish could replace traditional cod and haddock shipped in from overseas. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595. Other news: Birmingham was named the worst UK city for restaurant food hygiene by the FSA, with the highest proportion of one and two star hygiene rated establishments… The Sun has reported that ‘KFC is running out of chicken again as branches pause offers and warn of shortages.’ It says ‘KFC has been forced to pause one of its weekly food offers due to a shortage of chicken..’ The latest Lloyds Bank business barometer shows that business confidence across Britain fell this month to its lowest since March 2021. The bank says that its measure fell in July to 25% from 28% in June… Travel was disrupted over the weekend again by strike action on the railways. That won’t come as new news to anyone impacted. COMPANY NEWS: Heineken NV has reported higher-than-expected first-half earnings, saying that volumes rose despite inflationary pressures. The company reports revenue growth of 37.0% with beer volume organic growth of 7.6% and premium beer volume up 10.2% organically. It says that Heineken volume was in 13.8% growth… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595. LEON is launching its own branded self-serve coffee kiosks in 68 EG-operated petrol forecourts across the UK. The food-to-go and coffee chain was acquired by EG Group in April 2021. Last year EG Group announced plans to open 20 new LEON stores a year from 2022. Nightcap has announced that its Tonight Josephine brand will open in Bristol to provide a fourth site for the brand… Starbucks will open 30 new stores in Thailand each year until 2024 after expansion plans were put on hold during the pandemic. The company has noted improved sales in the first half of the year and has opened 15 new Thai stores in 2022 to date, predominantly at petrol stations and community malls. Ali Group has acquired foodservice equipment manufacturer Welbilt. Filippo Berti, Ali Group chairman and CEO, said ‘With greater scale, an enhanced worldwide footprint and a highly complementary and comprehensive portfolio of premier brands across the entire foodservice value chain, we are well positioned to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities ahead’. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Landlords are reported to be evicting some tenants and switching properties to Airbnbs and holiday lets because the money is better… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595. Carnival Cruise Line is to further ease some Covid requirements on its cruise ships. Lyons Holiday Parks has acquired North Wales-based Sunnysands Caravan Parks. Lyons Holiday Parks has bought the business and the freehold interest in five of its holiday parks. Parkdean Resorts has promoted Karen Gibson to Head of Accommodation, after working in the role of Regional Accommodation Support for two and a half years. OTHER LEISURE: Concerning the potential acquisition of Cliplay, Playtech on Friday reported that ‘capital market conditions have deteriorated significantly since the transaction was initially contemplated and, accordingly, this transaction is no longer being pursued in the same manner…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £324, multiple £595. FINANCE & MARKETS: Sterling lower at $1.2183 and €1.1909. Oil down at $102.93. UK 10yr gilt yield up 2bps at 1.87%. World markets up on Friday but London set to open down by around 19pts as at 6.30am. FORTHCOMING NEWS: It’s August now but nonetheless, we have scheduled updates from Heineken, Domino’s, Gregg’s, Just Eat and Gym Group on this side of the Atlantic and by global majors Marriott, Molson Coors, Starbucks, Airbnb, Uber, Shake Shack & YUM Brands on the other. The Bank of England opines on interest rates on Thursday and Halifax briefs on house prices on Friday. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • See premium. 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