Langton Capital – 2023-04-27 – Carlsberg, Hotel Choc, PPHE, Naked Wines, Chipotle, Dalata & other:
Carlsberg, Hotel Choc, PPHE, Naked Wines, Chipotle, Dalata & other:A DAY IN THE LIFE: I was defeated by the shoddy field full of long grass, dandelions and infant brambles that we call a garden yesterday because, having used the wet April as an excuse for nearly a month, I tried to mow the ‘lawn’. And that was long, exhausting and, ultimately, doomed a strategic failure as the grass played a skilful rear-guard action that involved clogging up the mower every minute or so and in generally wearing me out. In which it was successful so, with the light fading, we retired to the pub. Four meals, various pies and a steak and two rounds of White Rat and Mary Jane for ninety quid. Much more pleasant. More grass later today but, for the moment, 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 are £395 for one subscription, £695 for multiple, £995 for very large subscribers, all plus VAT. Or sign up for easy in, easy out monthly option per subscriber HERE https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=87YUG2Z5W7PSN PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Inflation: A plea from the Bank of England to the effect that consumers & business should suck it up and accept that they are poorer rather than seek to protect their positions has provoked something of a backlash. See also Finance & Markets below. Re wages, employers and employees both have an interest and CEO of Pret, Pano Christou, yesterday told Sky News that his company will ‘continue to look after our people’ when it came to awarding pay rises…. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. The BBC reports that the cost of a homemade cheese sandwich has jumped by over a third in one year. It says two slices of white bread, a serving of butter and mature cheddar has risen to 40p, up 37% over a year… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Demographics: The Trussell Trust, which is the UK’s largest food-bank provider, has reported that it handed out 37% more food parcels in 2022 than it did in 2021…. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. And demographics matter elsewhere because, if rents have continued to rise whilst house values have fallen, renters may find themselves worse off when compared to home owners – at least until the latter have to re-fix their mortgages… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Consumer confidence: YouGov & CEBR has found that consumer confidence fell from 100.4 to 99.4 (-1) in March 2023, with nearly every measure they track dropping during the month. The CEBR points out that this comes ‘after months of steady improvement’. However, scores for household finances in the past 30 days increased from 68.4 to 69.6 (+1.2). Labour issues. Hospitality Rising in partnership with KAM has suggested that 35% of UK adults say they would ‘consider a career in hospitality, demonstrating a positive shift in the way the industry is perceived’. It says the ‘progress has been driven by activity across the industry, from operators, trade bodies and suppliers plus the positive impact of the Hospitality Rising initiative and its #RiseFastWorkYoung campaign….’ COMPANY NEWS: Carlsberg has updated on Q1 trading saying that organic volume growth was 2.1%. It says that, by market, this broke down as to Western Europe -1.0%, Asia +4.9% and Central & Eastern Europe +0.9%. The company says that organic revenue growth, showing the impact of inflation, was +14.2%. Revenue growth by region was Western Europe +11.5%, Asia +12.4% and Central & Eastern Europe +29.6%…. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Chipotle has reported Q1 numbers saying that comparable sales rose 10.9% to see total revenue up 17.2% to $2.4 billion (vs a rise of 17.5% in Q4 last year). The company says in-restaurant sales rose 22.9% year over year and digital sales made up 39.3% of food and beverage sales in total… Caution from Hotel Chocolat due to a disappointing Easter. Co points to ‘range gaps’ which it says will be temporary. Hotel Chocolat has updated on trading saying that it ‘expects sales to be slightly lower than market expectations… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Naked Wines has updated on its full year to 3 April saying that total revenue was in line with guidance at c.£350m (flat on a reported basis, -6% to -8% on a comparable basis). It says that ‘FY23 adjusted EBIT [is] expected to be £15-18m, at the top end or slightly above the guided range… Punch Pubs & Co has acquired two new community pubs, in Coven and Beverley, to add to its 1,300-strong portfolio. Spanish sparkling wine company DO Cava reports total sales up 4.6% to 249,135 million bottles in 2022, with Germany maintaining its position as the top consumer (+2.2% YoY), followed by the US, Belgium and the UK. Sales in the domestic market also increased by 13.15%, reaching 77,807,000 bottles. Sky News reports that Amazon could be forced to recognise a trade union in the UK as nearly 700 workers in Coventry are now members of the GMB union. Amanda Gearing, GMB senior organiser, said ‘After weeks of campaigning and 14 strike days, they’ve built the power of their union on site and are now in a position to file for recognition.’ Butcher Farmison Limited has been acquired by a consortium led by former Asda CEO Andy Clarke and Chilli Marketing co-founders Gareth Whittle, Christian Barton and Kieron Barton, for an undisclosed sum. Joint Administrator Arvindar Singh said there had been considerable interest in buying the company. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Hotel rates buoying the sector. PPHE Hotels has updated on trading for its Q1 to end-March saying that total revenue in the period was £68.8 million, up 115.0% vs Q1 2022, and up 10.2% on Q1 20191 pre-pandemic levels ‘driven by higher rates’. It says ‘the UK and the Netherlands showed particularly strong performances, with trading consistently strong across leisure, corporate travel and meetings and events….’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Dalata Hotel Group has updated on trading saying it is seeing ‘continued strong growth in 2023.’ Chairman John Hennessy will tell the company’s AGM that ‘our performance in 2022 exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations’ and say ‘in 2023, Dalata has continued to trade strongly…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Disney is suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and accusing him of organising a campaign of “government retaliation” against the company… The Telegraph reports that the government policy of imposing VAT on tourists visiting Britain from outside the EU has hampered the recovery of spending by visitors from the US and Gulf states…. Heathrow reports that it welcomed 16.9 million passengers in Q1, beating Paris, Frankfurt and Schiphol to retain its position as Europe’s busiest airport and second in the world for international travel… OTHER LEISURE: Sky News reports that Flutter Entertainment is set to announce that a requisite majority of shareholders have voted in favour of listing in the US, with City investors saying they expect Flutter to eventually abandon its London stock market presence. The CMA has blocked Microsoft’s $68.7bn bid to buy Activision Blizzard due to concerns that it would stifle competition in the cloud gaming market… Riverside Studios has been put on the market after entering administration last month. The studios was previously used by the BBC to film Doctor Who. The site takes up 95,000 square feet of space, with a long lease that expires in 2214. Meta, which owns Facebook and WhatsApp, has reported that revenue grew 3% in Q1 vs the same quarter a year ago. It says over three billion people used at least one of its apps daily on average last month. Shares rose by more than 10% in after-hours trade. FINANCE & MARKETS: Accept that you are poorer. Small business owners and unions have reacted to the comments from Huw Pill, chief economist at the Bank of England’s comments that individuals and businesses should not try to protect their financial position. Amid the printable responses are that the Bank (and / or Mr Pill) are tone deaf and out of touch… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. The Institute for Public Policy Research has suggested that the UK’s poor record on health costs the economy £43bn a year. Sterling mixed at $1.2474 and €1.1285. Oil $3 lower on the day at $77.93. UK 10yr gilt yield up 5bps at 3.74%. World markets broadly lower yesterday & London set to open down around 13pts as at 6.30am. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. |
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