Langton Capital – 2023-02-03 – Trading, labour, outlook Starbucks, US Q4s (Apple, Amazon etc.) & more:
Trading, labour, outlook Starbucks, US Q4s (Apple, Amazon etc.) & more:A DAY IN THE LIFE: Imagine, if you can, that you’ve bought an intensely irritating, horrible, messy, screechy toy and, when you hit the off button, the button snaps off and the toy carries on, indeed it gets worse, until it finally runs out of battery many, many hours later. Well, that’s what having a puppy is like. And, whilst owners of toddlers will be familiar with very similar feeling, it’s a dog we’ve got now so, for the love of Mike, if anybody’s got any idea how we can turn her off for an hour or two, please let us know. Maybe a solar powered doll that bites back would work but we can’t put gin on her dummy because she doesn’t have one and, if she did, she’d eat it, drink any gin she could find, become much worse as a result and then crunch up the bottle. But we like her really. I had to put that part in because it’s Friday, it isn’t raining and we want to lift the mood. 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: Current trading: Fourth reports that Christmas trading was the strongest in three years for the UK’s pubs & restaurants. However… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. S4 Labour has reported that LfL sales up 4.1% in January 2023… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Labour: Fourth comments on labour saying that ‘overall headcounts in December 2022 were 5% higher compared to 2021 but were 11% lower than in 2019…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Elsewhere, the BCC has released its Quarterly Recruitment Outlook saying firms are facing the ‘highest level of recruitment difficulties on record…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Outlook: The MCA speaks with corporate finance specialists Graeme Smith and Craig Rachel, from AlixPartners and suggests that the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and inflation alongside scarce labour and rising interest rates mean ‘2023 looks set to be another year of great challenge in the hospitality sector…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Consumer confidence: Deloitte says consumer confidence ‘improved’ between Q3 and Q4 last year but, as the number rose only from minus 20.3% to minus 19.7%, everything is relative… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Big ticket: Furniture retailer ScS announced yesterday that ‘like-for-like order intake momentum improved significantly throughout the period and the group returned to growth of 2.6% in the last 10 weeks… Other news: Delivery: Lumina suggests that ‘restricted budgets and decreased anxiety around coronavirus have led to a decline in convenience delivery usage from 2021 to 2022…’ Consumer indebtedness: Spanish owned bank Santander has suggested that the upcoming recession may leave borrowers struggling to repay debts… Train strikes. The RMT is considering the latest offer put to it by Network Rail. It says ‘no decision has been made on the proposals, nor any of the elements within them.’ Late night. The NTIA has said that the government should do more to bring transport strikes to an end… COMPANY NEWS: Starbucks has reported Q1 2023 results saying that the result showed a “stunning” performance against a softening macroeconomic backdrop. China, however, disappointed.. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Amazon.com Inc has reported Q4 sales saying that operating profit could fall to zero in the current quarter… M&B brand Browns is to undertake a £2m refurbishment of its Grade II listed site in Covent Garden. Durham Gin is opening a new distillery near Durham Cathedral this spring. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye is to step down later this year. He has been CEO since 2014. Donald Trump’s Scottish golf courses and hotels have reported delayed results for the year to December 2021 showing annual losses of more than £15 million. OTHER LEISURE: Harley-Davidson Inc has repored strong Q4 numbers. The shares rose 9.6% on the news. The company says ‘we ended the year in a healthier inventory position and are set up for a solid start to the riding season.’ Apple Inc has reported Q4 numbers but warned that current quarter revenue will fall for a second quarter in a row. The company fell around 2% on the news after hours. Google owner Alphabet reported Q4 numbers yesterday with net income falling to $13.62 billion, or $1.05 per share, from $20.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, a year earlier. Sony Group Corp has raised its profit guidance and said that its videogame division should sell 19m PlayStation 5 game consoles in the year to March. FINANCE & MARKETS: As widely expected, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee yesterday voted by a majority of 7–2 to increase Bank Rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 4%. The two dissentient members wanted to hold Bank Rate at 3.5%. The ECB in Europe also raised rates by 50bps (to 2.5%) and said at least one further rise of the same size was in the offing… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The Bank of England also updated on its view on the economy via its Monetary Policy Report, saying that the recession that it still expects this year could be shorter and less severe than previously thought… Oxford Economics comments on expected house price drops saying commuter towns will be hit hardest by falling house prices. Sterling markedly weaker at $1.2215 and €1.1207 (see interest rate expectations comment). Oil lower at $82.03. UK 10yr gilt yield sharply lower (off 33bps) at 3.00% on lower interest rate expectations. Markets mixed yesterday and London set to open down around 4pts 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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