Langton Capital – 2023-05-22 – Inflation, trading, energy, RTN, Cote, holiday demand, Disney & other:
Inflation, trading, energy, RTN, Cote, holiday demand, Disney & other:A DAY IN THE LIFE: It’s amazing just how comprehensively a spilled half cup of tea can knock you off-track particularly if the accident happens ten minutes before your self-imposed deadline for completing a time-sensitive task. Because it means you have to finish whatever job you’ve set yourself whilst sitting in a puddle of liquid and, however bad and stressed you felt before the spillage, it’s pretty likely that you’ll feel worse after it. And the incident can have other consequences. These may be many and varied but few of them are good and, if you don’t believe it’s always possible to make a bad situation worse, then consider the various comic possibilities flowing from a desire to dry your trousers, most of which end up with you becoming a viral YouTube sensation. Anyway, hard to blame anyone but yourself if there’s nobody within ten feet of you at the time of impact so that’s enough of that. And, after a glorious weekend, 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 & cost of living crisis: The Resolution Foundation claims the rising cost of food will overtake the price of energy as the driving force behind inflation over the summer…. • 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. Trading: CGA comments on recent trading saying that the coronation capped off a ‘robust Spring for drinks sales.’ It says that ‘pubs and bars achieved solid drinks sales in the first half of May as consumers enjoyed successive Bank Holiday weekends—but with inflation still in double digits, real-terms growth remains elusive.’ This because total drink sales in managed houses were up only 5% in the week to 13 May, around half the level of inflation in March, the latest figure available … • 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. Energy costs: Cornwall Insight has suggested that the energy price cap for UK consumers should fall to around £2,053 per year for Q3 this year (down from the current level of £3,280, which is then reduced to £2,500 by government subsidy)… • 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 consumer: The Evening Standard reports that home repossessions in the UK were up 50% YoY in Q1, reaching 750 in the quarter… • 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. Labour market: City AM reports that figures from Lloyds Bank show 10 out of 14 sectors of the UK economy stepped up headcount last month, signalling the UK jobs market is holding up pretty well despite the economic slowdown… Rail strikes: About 20,000 RMT members working for the 14 major rail companies in England will strike for 24 hours on Friday 2 June, the day before the men’s FA Cup final. The union said that while there had been contact with the Rail Delivery Group, there had been no new pay proposals. Other news: Insolvencies – the silver lining for some. Begbies Traynor Group plc reports that ‘challenges for UK businesses are expected to continue to support growth in the insolvency market…’ Brexit: Thornbridge and Adnams breweries have refuted the Prime Minister’s claim that Brexit allows people to buy ‘cheaper beer’… • 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. City by city. Bionic reports that Belfast consumers are spending more in their local restaurants than anywhere else in the UK, spending on average 3.92% of disposable income on restaurant visits…. COMPANY NEWS: Restaurant Group AGM: The group will host its AGM tomorrow. The Telegraph reports that another hedge fund, TDR Capital, has said that RTN needs to break itself up and concentrate thereafter on its Wagamama brand…. • 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. Côte Restaurant Group reports revenue of £145m for the year ended September 2022, up from £73m the year prior. The group also announced it has appointed Laura Wood as CFO, who was previously at Wagamama as strategy director and interim CFO. Adjusted EBITDA was £3.6m (2021: £0.3m). Fazenda Group reports revenue up 37% YoY to over £20m in FY23, but EBITDA halved due to inflation and additional costs incurred as a result of living wage increases. In 2021 the company was bought out of a pre-pack administration by the same founding directors under a new company called Southern Wind Group Ltd. Alibaba posted a 2% rise in quarterly revenue that missed expectations on Thursday and said it would list its cloud computing business in the next year. The company has been struggling to attract new users as China’s e-commerce sector matures. U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese tech giant fell 4.9% to $86.20 in early trading. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Advantage Travel CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said has warned that UK travellers could face more hurdles when going abroad in the coming years because of Brexit… Advantage Travel reports its belief that the majority of would-be holidaymakers in the UK plan to take at least two holidays in 2023 despite economic pressures… OTHER LEISURE: Disney has scrapped plans to build a nearly $1bn corporate campus in Florida amid its ongoing legal battle with Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis… A group of TikTok creators have sued to block Montana’s ban of the platform, arguing that the new law violates their first amendment rights. The lawsuit said ‘Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes’. 888 has announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its Latvian business to Paf Consulting Abp for up to €28.25 million (£24.6 million) on a cash-free debt-free basis… Reuters reports that Meta is expected to face a record fine later over its transfer of Facebook’s European user data to US servers. FINANCE & MARKETS: The Bank of England has denied that QE is ‘to blame for UK double-digit inflation.’ It is said to be rejecting claims that its quantitative easing bond-buying programme is responsible for the UK’s cost of living crisis…. • 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. China reports that it is how the world’s biggest exporter of cars after overtaking Japan in Q1 this year. The OBR has said that the era of “massive” house price rises in the UK may be coming to an end. David Miles says the move to working from home has given many people more options about where they can live and has thus lessened pressures in housing hot-spots. Rightmove points to renewed optimism in the UK housing market, saying that asking prices for British homes rose in May by 1.8%… Sterling mixed at $1.2459 and €1.1511. Oil lower at $74.84. UK 10yr gilt yield up 4bps at 4.01%, the first time it has been above 4% in a decade and a half. Markets mostly better on Friday with Far East up today. London set to open up some 6pts 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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