Langton Capital – 2023-02-08 – Chipotle, Parkdean, Marriott, Zoom, Nintendo, UK economy & more:
Chipotle, Parkdean, Marriott, Zoom, Nintendo, UK economy & more:A DAY IN THE LIFE: I don’t want to get evangelical about it but I’m not sure that social media – and AI and various other everyday computer programmes for that matter – are on a mission to seed variety and to enlighten and educate. They might be more likely to entrench existing behaviours, to darken and deepen problems, to normalise the abnormal and, if you’re boring or unpleasant or downright dangerous, they might simply make you more so. For example, at the innocuous end of the spectrum, if you tend to use the same words, phrases or anecdotes when typing, it won’t be long before a programme such as the one I’m using now starts to autofill those same words, phrases and anecdotes as soon as you’ve typed the first letter. And that doesn’t make for variety when it comes to turns of phrase. Indeed, there you are, turns of phrase, it’s done it 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: Cost of living crisis. Head of HSBC UK Ian Stuart has warned that pressure on customers is set to increase this year, potentially leading to more defaults… Energy costs: UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has called the creation of a new department to focus on energy security ‘good news’. Nicholls said ‘Hopefully, the restructuring of DCMS priorities will herald a new focus on the role tourism plays in the UK, contributing £75 billion to the economy, and as a key export trade.’ Employment trends: The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has suggested that recruitment activity has slowed. It says that permanent hires fell for the fourth month in a row last month… Consumer spending: The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has suggested that the UK is likely to avoid a recession this year… • 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: Wine Australia reports that Australian wine exports fell by 4% by value during 2022 to AU$1.94 billion, with UK sales down 18% to AU$373m and volumes down 11%. Wine Australia noted that exports to the UK have been “unpredictable” since Brexit. Lumina has reported that consumers remain prepared to pay between £10 and £14.99 for a fancy burger. COMPANY NEWS: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc yesterday reported Q4 numbers in the US and effectively missed its forecasts as delivery came under pressure and ‘traffic’ (i.e. footfall) fell… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Passports. Home secretary Suella Braverman has said that holidaymakers will need to allow 10 weeks for new passports this summer, despite 97% of applications being completed within three weeks…. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Airport usage doubled. ACI Europe reports that European airport passenger numbers almost doubled last year to 1.94 billion but remained 21% below pre-pandemic levels… Sky reports that Parkdean, ‘Britain’s biggest holiday parks operator, is in talks about a £600m debt refinancing months after shelving a sale in the face of a deteriorating economic outlook…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Marriott International has told Hotel News Now in the US that demand has returned rapidly with CEO Tony Capuano adding that ‘the hotel industry receives no exceptions from economic headwinds, but Marriott is more geographically diverse than it used to be and it has a lower reliance on incentive management fees as its portfolio has shifted toward a higher percentage of franchised hotels.’ The company is due to report Q4 numbers next week… Cruising, full year numbers: Royal Caribbean reports Q4 revenue of $2.6bn, with total revenue per passenger cruise day up 3.5% YoY. The company reports adjusted EBITDA of $409.3m and a net loss of $500.2m. Q4 load factors were in line with guidance at 95%, with Caribbean sailings reaching 100%. Load factors for the full year were 85%. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. IATA figures show that European airlines’ traffic grew by 132% YoY in 2022, driven by an 84% increase in capacity. European air traffic remained 22.2% behind 2019 levels, ranking only behind North America (11.3% behind) and Latin America (14.2% behind). Thick fog around London airports led to British Airways cancelling around 30 flights at Heathrow and 17 at London City Airport. A spokesperson for air traffic controller NATS said capacity restrictions were put in place at the west London hub due to low visibility. OTHER LEISURE: Google plans to launch its own AI chatbot called Bard following the success of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Bard will be released to the public in the coming weeks and will provide written answers to questions in split seconds. Acquis-listed Newbury Racecourse has announced a 16% increase in prize money… Nintendo Co Ltd has cut profit forecasts, largely on the back of a strong Yen, and has said that it plans to raise pay for its staff by 10%. Zoom has said that it is laying off 1,300 staff or around 15% of its workforce… FINANCE & MARKETS: Interest rates. MPC member Catherine Mann has warned that further interest rate rises may be necessary in order to combat inflation… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. The Telegraph says that mortgage rates have fallen because of a “fierce price war” between lenders… The Halifax yesterday updated on house prices saying that there was little change in January vs December (actually down by £29 only, or 0.01%). It says the annual rate to January was 1.9%. It was 2.1% in the year to December… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Lloyds of London has said that the UK’s reputation for financial stability has been dented by the recent political turmoil. Sterling up at $1.2053 and €1.1226. Oil higher at $83.69. UK 10yr gilt yield up 5bps at 3.29%. World markets heading better yesterday and London forecast to open around 52pts higher 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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