Covid impact (lasting or transient), Prezzo, Wahaca, holidays etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

I was thinking the other day that, if you rank your mood from blissful, through happy, content, neutral, irritated, exasperated and angry, why is it that dog owners, at least when they’re in the proximity of their pet, spend so much time at the right-hand end of the list?

Indeed, neutral quite quickly becomes a good result.

It can be achieved when the beast is asleep but even irritated quickly becomes tolerable. And exasperated is irritable repeated ten times and angry is when you’ve had enough because, when the animal isn’t whining to go out they’re whining to come back in and, if they’re not hungry, thirsty, bored or annoyed, they’re usually doing something worse.

Anyway, it’s the first of a series of short weeks in April & May this week. And we have a slightly shorter email than usual due to holidays etc, but let’s nonetheless move onto the news:

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WHAT IS PERMANENT? AND WHAT ISN’T?

Major retailer NEXT last week commented that, with the various upheavals since Brexit including the growth in online sales, Covid and the Ukraine invasion, it was a challenge to determine what were the underlying trends (if any).

Below we consider the hospitality industry and ponder what might last and what is more likely to be transient. The situation: The above is a big question and it’s important both when we are talking about bad news, e.g. a pandemic, or good news, such as a boost to revenues for some companies when workers are furloughed or when VAT rates or Business Rates are reduced or suspended.

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Concerning the wider economy, the BCC Quarterly Economic Survey finds that most firms aren’t seeing an increase in sales despite an uptick in business confidence…

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COMPANY NEWS:

Prezzo reported revenue of £94.9m for the year ended 2 January 2022, with adjusted EBITDA of £4.2m and a total statutory loss for the period of £22.4m…

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Wahaca reported revenue of £39.2m for the year ended 26 June 2022, up from £17.7m the year prior…

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HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

ACI Europe reports passenger traffic across European airports up 48% YoY in February versus soft Omicron comparatives. Overall numbers remained 12% below pre-pandemic February 2019 levels despite 40% of Europe’s airports either recovering or exceeding their pre-pandemic volumes. The best performances came from airports in Portugal (+18.9%).

Virgin Voyages has confirmed it is seeking ‘additional funding’ in support of the cruise line’s ‘aggressive growth strategy’. The company plans to launch its third and fourth ships in May and December this year. In August 2022, the cruise line raised $550 million in new capital to support its growth plans.

OTHER LEISURE:

Entain plc has announced that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of 365scores, which it describes as ‘a world leading sports media business, for a consideration of $150 million (approximately £120m) and contingent payments totalling up to $10 million (approximately £8m)…’

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Tesla reported record quarterly vehicle deliveries (+4% to 423k) on Sunday, but modest QoQ sales growth despite price cuts. In January, the chief executive, Elon Musk, said Tesla could achieve 2m vehicle deliveries this year, up 52% from last year. The basic Model Y that used to sell for $65,990 (£53,500) now costs $54,990.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that the crisis in the US banking system “is not yet over.” He said that the crisis “involved fewer players and fewer issues” than had the situation in 2008.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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