Langton Capital – 2023-01-30 – DPEU, 888, services, Red Flags, rail strikes, WM Morrison, FlyBe & more:
Section TitleDPEU, 888, services, Red Flags, rail strikes, WM Morrison, FlyBe & more: A DAY IN THE LIFE: We were mulling the source & impact of superstition over the weekend. You know, putting your socks on in a specific order to secure a win on a Saturday afternoon and suchlike. It worked spectacularly well for Hull City vs QPR this weekend, so I’m reluctant to knock it but it did bring to mind one of our dog’s habit of wittering to go outside of a morning because, one time when he did so, bits of mackerel and toast crusts and crumbs appeared in his bowl while he was out and he was sure that, if he tried it 1,000 times more, it would happen again. Which is both silly and evolutionarily understandable because a) there probably was at least one more time that it happened, b) what’s the harm in it anyway and c) there’s a certain logic in repeating what you did when something pleasant happened. SEVERAL READERS HAVE ASKED FOR DETAILS AS TO WHAT IS IN THE FULL, PREMIUM EMAIL. WE WILL SEND AROUND A COPY LATER THIS MORNING FOR PURPOSES OF COMPARISON. Certainly it wouldn’t pay you to repeat what you did when something nasty befell you but anyway, we’re running out of time so let’s move 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: Services sector: The CBI has produced its lates monthly services sector survey & growth indicator. It reports that ‘business volumes continued to fall in the three months to January, at an accelerated pace.’ It says ‘the decline in consumer services volumes, while slowing slightly, remained significant…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The chancellor & economic growth: Following the chancellor’s comments on the economy last week, the CBI, the BCC, UKH and several other trade & industry bodies have commented. The BCC has said times remain tough. It says ‘while wholesale energy costs might now be starting to fall, the reality is that thousands of businesses were locked into new contracts last year at prices that will remain far higher for months to come. This will be unsustainable for many and must be addressed….’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Red Flags. Begbies Traynor’s latest Red Flag Alert suggests that some 18,905 bars & restaurants are under significant financial distress. It says that the businesses in question are being hit by rising labour and other costs as the economy looks set to head into recession… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Demographics: KAM looks at the over-65s market and concludes that it will become an increasingly important demographic. KAM says the over-65s accounted for 11.8 million people, some 18% of the population in 2016. The age group will expand rapidly over the coming decades… Looking to the future: The Insolvency and Restructuring team at legal firm Weightmans has been considering the major trends likely to emerge in 2023. With regard to insolvencies, Weightmans says there was a record number in 2022 and it says ‘we anticipate those numbers to rise over 2023 as businesses struggle to tackle the following issues… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Rail dispute: RMT boss Mick Lynch has said it will be up to his members whether to accept an offer to end the long-running rail dispute over pay & conditions. Much of the hospitality industry will be hoping that some agreement can be reached. Mr Lynch says members will be consulted over the coming days. Other news: This week. Quieter for trading statements. DPEU full year update (Mon) with SBUX on Thurs. Possible announcements from RTN, Brighton Pier & CINE. Fed likely to jack rates 25bps on Weds with B of England 50bp likely Thurs. Updates on strikes likely, further political turmoil not out of the question. Digital community operator Rest Less has suggested that ONS stats show over 1.6 million adults aged 50 and over are not working because of long-term sickness. It says the number is up 20%, or 270,000, in three years… COMPANY NEWS: DP Eurasia has updated on full year trading to end-December saying that total system sales were up 76.5% on last year. LfL growth was 46.2% across the group, Sales were up 62.2% in continuing territories and down 9.8% in Russia. The company says ‘group system sales increased by 13.1% (pre-IAS 29: 76.5%), reflecting our ongoing focus on network expansion, strategic pricing, and product innovation, as well as excellent growth and demand…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Loungers UK is reported set to open its newest site in the former TSB branch in Wimborne on Wednesday, April 12. Moody’s reports that Wm Morrison Supermarkets’ lates figures were a ‘weak set of results’ and they represent a credit negative. Moody’s says ‘adjusted gross debt to EBITDA, stood at 8.75x at the end of October, compared to our expectation of around 6.5x…’ Rémy Cointreau last week reported Q3 numbers showing that revenues were down 6% at €437.6 million. This was deemed a better-than-anticipated number as sales to China picked up… EMenu Now has partnered with MarketMan to help hospitality businesses boost their profitability. It says the JV partners’ aim is to ‘help as many businesses as possible to overcome the challenges being posed by the current cost of living crisis, by increasing sales, cutting administrative costs, streamlining operations and reducing wastage.’ HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Birmingham-based Flybe has ceased trading. The collapse follows that of the earlier version of Flybe, which collapsed in 2020… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. OTHER LEISURE: 888 Holdings has announced ‘that Itai Pazner, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, is immediately leaving office as CEO and as a Director.’ It says ‘the Group’s Non-Executive Chair, Lord Mendelsohn, is assuming the position of Executive Chair on an interim basis while the Board searches for a permanent CEO.’ No reason for the departure is given in this morning’s RNS… The Mail on Sunday reports that ‘Cineworld’s creditors have contacted its rival Vue about a possible sale as part of efforts to salvage the business…’ Apple is set to report what analysts believe will be reduced sales and earnings on Thursday. Sky reports that Morgan Stanley is to sell GameNation, Britain’s biggest independent operator of high street slot machine venues with some 50 sites across the UK. Scunthorpe has reportedly been served with a winding-up petition for an alleged unpaid tax bill by HMRC. Begbies Traynor told BBC Radio Humberside the winding-up petition “shows the urgency required by any potential purchaser”. FINANCE & MARKETS: See Pubs & Restaurants for responses to Chancellor Hunt’s speech. The Telegraph quotes The Investor Forum, which represents fund managers including Blackrock, Aviva, UBS and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, as saying that British stocks have had a fall from grace and are no longer seen as assets that need to be owned. It says ‘the declining relevance of UK equity markets over the last 25 years has been breath-taking. The CEBR suggests that tens of billions of pounds in additional taxpayers’ funds will be needed to keep public services running this year because of a collapse in productivity. The CEBR has reported that GDP in France is estimated to have been 0.7% higher than pre-pandemic levels across 2022, marking the best performance on this measure amongst Western Europe’s five largest economies. Sterling higher at $1.2395 and €1.1405. Oil lower at $86.09. UK 10yr gilt yield up 2bps at 3.33%. World markets mixed on Friday with London set to open some 27pts lower 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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