Langton Capital – 2023-01-09 – Tortilla, Frontier Developments, Giggling Squid, income, Crussh etc.:
Tortilla, Frontier Developments, Giggling Squid, income, Crussh etc.:A DAY IN THE LIFE: Bit pushed again. On to the news: LANGTON EMAIL: The Free Email is now written in short form. Extended versions of many stories (after the ellipses) 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 https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=87YUG2Z5W7PSN PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Consumer disposable income: Heating costs: Ofgem reports that the average price of gas in the UK has fallen by 20 per cent in the last week, but that this decline will have a ‘limited’ impact on bills due to how far ahead suppliers buy wholesale energy… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Fuel: Petrol station owners are facing pressure to cut their fuel prices after the average price of petrol in the UK fell by 8p a litre in December to 151p and diesel by 9p to 174p. The RAC argues that petrol should be sold at 140p a litre rather than 151p, and diesel at 160p, not 174p… Lost deposits taking more money out of consumers’ pockets. Funeral company One Life Funeral Planning is reported to have owed £20m to creditors when it collapsed. Of the deficit, around £11.4 million is owed to customers who have paid for either their own or relative’s future funerals. Customers will get back maybe 2.3p per £1. December sales: CGA reports that drink sales in the on trade in December ended ‘2022 on a high but trail pre-COVID December…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Meanwhile, the MA, having conducted a poll across readers, suggests ‘trade at gastropubs picked up in the Christmas ‘party period’ following a dire early December.’ It adds that ‘operators are now buckling down for tough months of trade.’ Elsewhere, the Evening Standard reports that ‘desperate London hospitality bosses say they are being forced to put staff on zero hours contracts because of the devastating impact of the rail strikes on their businesses…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Other news: The BBPA has called on customers who are going ‘dry’ in January to still visit the pub. It says around 85% of outlets now serve alcohol-free beers, up from 78% three years ago… Single-use items like plastic cutlery, plates and trays are set to be banned in England, the government has confirmed. There is no time scale attached to the announcement. COMPANY NEWS: Tortilla Mexican Grill has updated on Q4 & FY trading saying that FY22 performance was in line with market expectations ‘supported by Q4 UK LFL revenue growth of 16.0%.’ It says ‘Tortilla’s performance remained highly resilient throughout the year, in the face of ongoing macroeconomic challenges. This was driven by the ongoing strength of our customer proposition and demand for our sector-leading brands, alongside the continued expansion of our site portfolio in line with our long-term growth strategy…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Crussh, a chain of juice bars in London, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators. Giggling Squid has reported full year numbers for the period ended 3 April 2022 to Companies House. Unsurprisingly, the company has reported a sharp upturn in revenues and profits year-on-year (YoY). During the period the company operated 43 Thai restaurants under the Giggling Squid brand as well as 2 restaurants under the newly acquired Lime Squeezy brand…. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Brewpub group Brewhouse & Kitchen has ‘reported strong double digit sales growth during its festive trading period vs 2021.’ It says the success is due to a number of factors including ‘taking full advantage of the first Christmas unmarred by Covid restrictions since 2019…’ McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has warned staff that the operator is likely to cut jobs in a major reorganisation that will see the company speed up plans for new restaurants… Westons Cider has announced significant expansion plans for its Herefordshire mill in an effort to keep up with demand. The new presses are set to result in a 30% increase in production. The company produces (among others): Henry Westons, Stowford Press, Old Rosie and Westons Label. Pure, the healthy food-to-go brand, reports that its sales doubled in 2022 to £20m. However, the company said its recovery from Covid had been ‘long, slow and unpredictable’. During the period, Pure made an operating loss of £2.7m and a loss after tax was £3.4m, down from a loss of £4.9m the year prior. Texas Roadhouse has announced that its CFO Tonya Robinson has retired effective January 4, 2023, after more than two decades at the company. Mexican tequila producer Casa Maestri has purchased Santera Tequila which sells Blanco, Reposado, and Anejo tequilas. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: The Advantage Travel Partnership and the CAA are predicting bookings to ‘soar’ over last weekend as it featured ‘Sunshine Saturday’ – the first Saturday after Christmas and new year and typically the most popular day of the year to book a foreign trip… And, with the weekend now behind us, Travel Weekly writes ‘Hays Travel claimed a fivefold rise in holiday bookings on Sunshine Saturday against the same day in 2022 as customers prioritise holidays in the face of cost of living pressures…’ Cruise specialists have reported a significant upturn in demand in recent weeks. Cruise Circle managing director Jason Daniels revealed he was forced to temporarily pause some marketing channels because his sales team ‘could not cope’ with a surge in demand. Cruise365 managing director Anthony Blackmore said ‘Cruise is going through a very big renaissance. December was much stronger than in the previous three years.’ Sky News reports that Dame Karen Jones is in talks to join the board of Whitbread. It says the appointment could be announced within days. Hoseasons and sister company cottages.com have reported 10% more Boxing Day bookings over their previous best in 2021. Bookings have been up 19% and 33% YoY respectively since the start of January. OTHER LEISURE: Frontier Developments has updated on current year trading (the year to May 2023) saying that, for the H1 to end-November, it expects to report revenue for H1 FY23 of approximately £57 million (H1 FY22: £49.1 million). It says ‘the 16% growth above the comparative period was achieved from revenue contributions from two new game releases, F1 Manager 2022 and Stranded: Alien Dawn, alongside the ongoing material revenue contributions from Frontier’s portfolio of existing games, which accounted for around two-thirds of total revenue in the period.’ However, FDEV says ‘as a result of the underperformance of F1® Manager 2022 during the holiday period, the Board has reduced its revenue projections for FY23 and FY24…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. FINANCE & MARKETS: S&P reports that the UK’s construction sector recorded a fall in business activity during December, ending a three-month sequence of growth. The rate of decline is the fastest since May 2020 with S&P reporting a number of 48.8 in December, down from 50.4 in November. The seasonally adjusted S&P UK Composite PMI was 49.0, below the crucial 50.0 line between contraction and expansion. The number is up from the 48.2 in November. Inflation in Europe is reported to by falling faster than expected according to Eurostat. A flash estimate suggests 9.2 per cent in December, lower than market expectations of 9.5 per cent. The US added 223,000 jobs in December according to official figures. The rate of unemployment fell from 3.6% in November to 3.5% in December. The Halifax on Friday reported that UK home prices fell by 1.5% in December after recording a drop of 2.4% in November. The annual rate fell to 2.0% from 4.6% in November… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Shell is to pay corporate tax in the UK for the first time since 2017 as a result of windfall taxes. Made.UK says that after three prime ministers, four chancellors and three business secretaries in less than a year, foreign investors find the UK less appealing. It says ‘there is evidence that the political instability of the last 12 months has damaged the competitiveness of the UK as a manufacturing location.’ Sterling up at $1.2149 and €1.1375. Oil higher at $79.63. UK 10yr gilt yield down 8bps at 3.47%. World markets up on Friday with London set to open up 23pts as at 6.30am. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. |
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