Brighton Pier, Compass, Games Workshop, High Streets, energy etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Our daughter went on a Barbenheimer binge yesterday, five hours of films with a two hour food binge in the middle and, looking at the various numbers coming out of the cinema industry, she and her friends were hardly alone.

And very happy she was with it too.

Pink accessories for Barbie and a black pencil tie and dour expression for Oppenheimer and she was sorted.

Indeed, I don’t think she has been more pleased with herself since her mocks finished – although the end of the 2022/23 football season, when her dad and her brothers finally stopped talking about Hull City ran it close.

So, as is often the case, FOMO will get the better of me and I’d better see what all the fuss is about. Barbie, I haven’t got a clue but, with Oppenheimer, I think I know the ending. 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:

Reinventing the High Street:

Startups.co.uk reports that, whilst there have been High Street closures, there has also been churn. It reports that ‘service-led retailers and hospitality operators [are] leading an overhaul of high streets across the UK….’

• 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.

Quick service:

We commented yesterday on price elasticities and the extent to which demand can move when prices change. Lumina Intelligence forecasts the QSR segment’s value to increase by £2.3bn from 2019 to 2023, with the top 10 QSR outlets predicted to achieve combined outlet growth of 4.3% this year, to a total of 6,134 sites…..

• Langton. Inflation will have wiped out the growth over the four year period but there are nonetheless reasons to suggest that QSR has proved to be more robust than some other restaurant types.

• Lumina says that leading players such as McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King are expected to see robust growth in 2023, but delivery-focused fast food such as Domino’s and Pizza Hut Delivery are expected to see slower turnover growth.

Energy costs:

Trade associations including UKH have signed an open letter to energy regulator Ofgem calling on it to take ‘immediate’ action on hidden charges by energy brokers. The organisations claim that energy suppliers are taking advantage of last year’s price rises in order to levy hidden fees…

• 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.

Return to ‘normality’.

The MA reports that the government will end automatic provision for pubs and bars to sell alcohol for off-site consumption as well as halting the increased number of temporary event notices (TENs) permitted….

• 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:

The MCA reports that average weekly eating and drinking out penetration reached 60.4% in Q2, an increase of 1.7 percentage points YoY. Weekly frequency is flat YoY at 1.46 trips on average per week, with trip spend up just 6%, lower than inflation, to £11.55….

Springboard data shows that high street footfall was up 2.9% YoY for the week ended 22 July….

• 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.

Selling prices:

The ONS reveals that the price of a pint of draught lager in a pub has increased 11.7% YoY in June to £4.47. Draught bitter increased by 8.8% to £3.81….

Other news:

Startups.co.uk reports that a survey from digital payment provider takepayments has found that Apple Pay and contactless payments have overtaken cash payments as consumers’ favourite way to pay in-store….

• 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.

COMPANY NEWS:

Compass Group has updated on trading for its Q3 and its financial year to date saying that ‘our third quarter performance was strong with organic revenue growth of 15%, despite lapping the reopening of all sectors in the prior 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.

Domino’s in the Us, which recently announced that it would work with Uber Eats, is working to stem a decline in delivery sales…

Profit warning. Brighton Pier has updated on trading for its H1 to 25 June, saying that, despite trading up to month five being in line with expectations, the ‘second quarter has proved more difficult. Sales remain behind 2022, with the current macroeconomic environment leading to a widespread decline in disposable incomes and consumer confidence. Total sales for the 6 months ending 25 June 2023 are expected to be in the region of £16.2 million….’

• 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.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

For Brighton Pier, see Pubs & Restaurant Company News above.

Authorities on Corfu have given evacuation orders to parts of the island threatened by wildfires in addition to the crisis unfolding on Rhodes….

• 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.

Strikes scheduled to take place at Gatwick this weekend have been suspended.

OTHER LEISURE:

888 has announced the appointment of Per Widerström as Chief Executive Officer with effect from 16 October 2023….

Games Workshop has reported full year numbers to end-May saying that core revenue rose from £386.8m to £445.4m with PBT up from £156.5m to £170.6m. EPS was up to 409.7p (2022: 391.3p) and the dividends declared in the period rose from 235p to 414p.

Spotify is putting up prices for its 200 million ad-free subscribers for the first time in over ten years. The price rise will be from $9.99 to $10.99 for those with an individual plan.

Elon Musk has rebranded Twitter, changing the microblogging company’s logo from a bird to an ‘X’. The domain X.com now redirects users to Twitter.

Dutch e-bike company VanMoof has filed for bankruptcy, and is considering a third-party sale so that its activities can continue. The venture-backed company had previously raised $189.1m and had reportedly ‘spent big on marketing and over-ordering’ according to one industry insider quoted by TechCrunch.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

S&P yesterday released flash PMI numbers for the UK saying that the composite index for July looked like coming in at 50.7 (Jun: 52.8) and the flash UK Services PMI Business Activity Index was at 51.5 (Jun: 53.7)….

• 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.

A bit of slightly brighter news: this year less bad but next year worse. The EY ITEM Club Summer Forecast suggests that ‘the UK economy is expected to grow 0.4% in 2023, up from the 0.2% growth projected in April’s Spring Forecast….

• 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.

Make UK reports that UK exporters are suffering from a downward trend in sales into Europe. Only Northern Ireland (across the border into the Republic) and Scotland (higher oil prices & Russia boycott) are bucking the trend.

Sterling mixed at $1.2835 and €1.159. Oil price up at $82.95. UK 10yr gilt yield down 2bps at 4.25%. World markets mixed yesterday with London set to open down around 12pts 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.