ENT, HSW, Disney, energy costs, summer trading, valuations etc.:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

I’ve always been something of an optimist.

A bit like Emmett in the Lego Movie, I’ve assumed that, when I’ve passed an exam, I’ve utterly shot the lights out and that when I’ve failed one, there must have been something wrong with the marking.

And that when other drivers occasionally shake their fists, it’s a spontaneous gestures of approval and the tax authorities aren’t singling me out when they talk about fines, penalties and the like, but one thing I’ve always struggled to see the good in has been parking tickets.

Because I can’t really see the upside.

I mean, sure, I’ve managed to talk myself out of one or two but others, either when I’ve been dealing with bots or with bot-like humans or, worse still, when I’ve had to speak to people who’ve got a financial interest in levying the fine as they’re on some sort of commission-share, I’ve had to pay and that’s a bit of a downer.

Part of life, I suppose, but anyway, just a quick note.

It being the summer, August is a bit fragmented. Langton is away next week and there won’t be an email. There’s be some chat on Twitter. We’re then back a week and then away for the Bank Holiday week at the end of the month before resuming full and uninterrupted service from September through to Christmas.

On to the news:

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DELIVEROO – H1 NUMBERS:

Deliveroo has this morning reported H1 numbers and our comments are set out below:

Headline numbers: Deliveroo reports revenue of £1.02bn vs £973m. It reports adjusted EBITDA of £39.4m (vs loss £51.6m) and says that the loss for the period was £82.9m (2022: loss £153.8m). ROO reports that profitability is ‘ahead of expectations with adjusted EBITDA of £39 million in H1.’ The company says ‘adjusted EBITDA margin (as a % of GTV)* increased to 1.1% in H1 from 0.2% in H2 2022 and (1.5)% in H1 2022.’ It says it has generated ‘efficiencies in marketing and overheads’ and has seen ‘an increasing contribution from advertising’.

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Energy costs:

UKHospitality is urging Ofgem to encourage suppliers to resolve issues many businesses are facing with high energy contracts, offer greater transparency to customers, deliver wider access to the energy ombudsman, put in place measures to prevent the blacklisting of entire sectors, and improve regulation of energy brokers….

Summer trading:

The Times has two stories on holidays today, one suggesting that consumers will favour ‘a dip in the North Sea’ and stay at home or holiday in ‘new destinations like the Nordics, Belgium and Holland’ (says TUI) and the other suggesting that poor weather in July has sent Brits scurrying to book overseas holidays. One or the other – or maybe both to some degree – are likely to be correct….

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Demographics:

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has said that rents, which tend to be more of an issue for younger rather than older consumers, will continue to rise as more people want to rent and there are fewer properties available…

AN ATTEMPT AT VALUATION

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COMPANY NEWS:

Loungers’ chair Alex Reilley tweeted yesterday ‘today we throw the doors open on our 197th Lounge (& 235th site overall) in the lovely coastal town of Deal. Acordo Lounge is located in a former M&Co in the middle of the towns High Street & is our 2nd Lounge in Kent.’

Popeyes will open its first site in Scotland this year with a drive-thru just outside Glasgow, marking the company’s 12th opening in the UK in 2023. Popeyes UK had just recently announced that it has secured £50m of additional funding from private equity firm TDR Capital.

Giraffe World Kitchen is opening a location at Barcelona Airport, marking the restaurant chain’s second site in Spain and its 11th airport site. Further international openings are expected to be announced later this year.

Caprice Holdings is to bring its Sexy Fish brand to Manchester with an opening in Spinningfirlds in the autumn. Owner Richard Caring says ‘Manchester follows on from the successful restaurants in London and Miami. Caprice Holdings as a company has an affinity with the city, and we believe that Sexy Fish will be loved and enjoyed by the people of Manchester.’

HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Hostelworld has reported H1 numbers, saying that revenue rose 57% to €51.5m. It says the loss in H1 fell to €7.5m from €14.3m last year…

The Port of Dover is reported to have had its busiest summer since 2019.

Employees at airport ground-handling firm Red Handling and Wilson James are planning to strike from Friday August 18 till Monday August 21. Unite estimates that around 45,000 passengers at Gatwick will face delays as a result of the industrial action.

Airbnb’s lawsuit against New York City over legislation against short-term rentals was dismissed by a New York judge on Tuesday. The judge cited data that the city had received nearly 12,000 complaints about short-term rentals from 2017 to 2021, saying ‘Clearly, respondents have identified a major problem, and these rules attempt to address that issue.’

Aviation analytics firm Cirium projects that the number of flights from UK airports this month is set to reach 89% of pre-Covid August 2019 levels, with a total of 92,549 flights due to leave from UK airports this month.

The Tudor Hotel Collection has acquired Kents Cavern, in Devon, for an undisclosed sum. The popular tourist attractions had a guide price of between £2m and £2.5m.

OTHER LEISURE:

Entain has reported H1 numbers saying that net gaming revenue rose by 19%. Group EBITDA is £499m (up 6%) and the loss before tax from continuing operations is £502.5m…

Disney yesterday reported Q1 numbers to end-June saying TV revenue fell 7% to $6.7 billion and its direct-to-consumer business reported a 9% increase in revenue to $5.5 billion. Content sales and licensing reported an operating loss of $243 million. Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products group reported a 13% increase in revenue in the quarter, to $8.3 billion.

Online gaming company Roblox yesterday missed estimates for Q2 bookings and its shares fell by nearly 20%.

Gfinity has announced that it has raised £450k issuing shares at 0.06 pence per share, sending shares down 30% on the AIM market….

Roadchef has reported revenue up 21.1% YoY to £219m for the year ended 1 January 2023, with EBITDA falling £0.1m to £40.3m and the company flipping into a loss for the period of £6.6m compared to a profit of £14.2m in the prior period….

FINANCE & MARKETS:

China has slipped into deflation, providing further evidence that the world’s second-largest economy is faltering as it exits Covid.

Sterling weaker at $1.2713 and €1.1572. Oil up at $87.47. UK 10 year gilt yield down 1bp at 4.38%. World markets mixed yesterday, London set to open up around 32 points.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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