Langton Capital – 2024-04-25 – Pret, G4M, PPHE, Dalata, Meta, train strikes, delivery & other:
Section TitleA DAY IN THE LIFE: Yesterday’s email was a tad delayed as we were ferrying people to the train station at an inconvenient time. Inconvenient for me and for the email, that is. It seemed to work perfectly for the passengers but, when you try taking 40 minutes out of your day at a critical time, it leaves you struggling to make good. And then you have to what, stare at the drizzle, flip your pen a few hundred times and check to see if the Daily Mash has anything new to liven up your day so much of it will be a washout, at least that’s my excuse. Just room to say that the Mighty Hull City kept alive our Playoff hopes last night be beating Coventry 3-2 away from home. With the latter having gone out of the FA Cup to Man U on penalties and now out of the Playoffs, you have to feel for them. Not that that extends to dropping points to them, mind. Anyway, in addition to the current news, there are a few points below relating to news that broke yesterday. Here we go. 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 sent separately KEY POINTS FROM YESTERDAY’S STORIES: Tortilla reports that current year LfL sales are down 4.7% on last year… Jet2 is putting on a lot of capacity… Heathrow expects summer 2024 to be its busiest ever… • Detail, 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. PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Train strikes: UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has strongly criticised the decision by ASLEF to proceed with further rail strikes, stating ‘enough is enough….’ Delivery: Lumina reports a notable slowdown in the growth of the foodservice delivery market post-pandemic, with 2024 growth expected to be supported by inflation, expansion, and innovation…. • 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. Other news: In the US, Technomic has reported that chain restaurants are taking an increased share of what is already a huge market… • 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: Heineken yesterday reported Q1 organic net revenue up 9.4% (7.2% expected) and beer volume organic growth of 4.7% (2.5% consensus), sending shares up 1.6%. CEO Dolf van den Brink said all regions posted higher volume and net revenue, with Q1 helped by an earlier Easter and one-off effects…. • 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. Spirits company Pernod reports Q3 numbers at 8am. Pret a Manger plans to open 150 new shops outside the UK this year, announcing board changes to help its international expansion. Konrad Meyer, who led the acquisition of Pret at JAB in 2018, has been appointed Chairman, succeeding Olivier Goudet, while Sinclair Beecham and Larry Billett, former Chairman from 2003 to 2011, are rejoining the business in advisory and non-executive roles, respectively…. NewRiver, the REIT focused on leisure and retail properties, has updated on Q1 trading this morning saying that it has seen ‘continued strong operational metrics with increased occupancy and strong leasing performance.’ The MCA reports Neapolitan pizza concept Three Joes has confirmed the closure of its Chichester and Fareham sites due to pressures related to the cost of living crisis, leaving the chain with three remaining sites…. The English Premier League is reportedly set to partner with Diageo-owned Guinness as its football sponsor, with an estimated £10m per year agreement starting from the 2024-2025 season. The deal, valued at over £41m for four years, marks a significant increase from the previous partnership with AB InBev-owned Budweiser, which ended in 2023. Ben McLaughlin, Chief Operating Officer at BOXPARK, writes on LinkedIn ‘last week we launched our home in the North, BOXPARK Liverpool was born! We had an absolute blast across the launch weekend, thank you to everyone that came to party with us and try some of the most epic street food we have tasted. Our new destination at Cains Brewery Village is really something to behold.’ Redemption Roasters, bolstered by a £2.7m investment, aims to triple its sales over the next three years. The speciality coffee chain plans to open four new outlets, expand its prisoner rehabilitation program, and grow its wholesale business. The company, currently valued at £22m, is targeting a pre-money valuation of £25m by 2026. HOLIDAYS, HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL: PPHE Hotel Group has updated on Q1 trading saying that total revenue was £77.0 million, up 11.9% year-on-year, ‘driven by growth in occupancy as room rates continued to normalise across both leisure, corporate and meetings and events segments, as well as an increase in operational days in the Croatian portfolio, particularly Grand Hotel Brioni, and the leap year benefit across all markets…’ • 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. Ireland-based accommodation provider Dalata Hotel Group has today updated on trading ahead of its AGM. The company reports that, ten years after listing, the company is ‘the leading hotel operator in Ireland and has significantly expanded its footprint, with 53 hotels across Ireland, the UK and Continental Europe.’ It says ‘2023 marked another record performance for the Group in terms of revenue and free cashflow generation together with strong execution of our growth strategy….’ • 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. negotiations, leading to the cancellation of most flights at Paris Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports. The planned strike by airline catering staff at Gatwick Airport has been suspended after the Unite union received an improved offer from dnata, the ground handler. The strike, scheduled for April 26-29, has been put on hold to allow workers to vote on the new offer. Ryanair predicts that UK passenger numbers will surge to 65 million annually by 2030, up from 53 million in 2022. CEO Michael O’Leary reiterated concerns about air traffic control and Air Passenger Duty while highlighting the airline’s contribution of £14 billion to the UK economy and 98,000 jobs. Heathrow experienced a record-breaking start to 2024 with 18.5 million passengers in Q1, driven by growth on key business routes and surging demand from North American and East Asian markets…. • 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. Amsterdam City Council is to cut the number of river cruise calls into the city over the next four years by around half. It aims to cut passenger landings from around 542k last year to a projected 271k by 2028. OTHER LEISURE: Gear4music reports FY24 trading was in line with expectations, with revenue -5% to £144.4m and an expected recovery in gross margins to 27.3% (FY23: 25.7%; FY22: 27.8%). Net debt reduced significantly to £7.3m from £14.5m, ahead of expectations and driven by planned cost savings. CEO Andrew Wass highlighted the nearly halved net debt and ongoing investments in e-commerce platform enhancements…. • 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. Meta Platforms last night reported Q1 numbers with its shares slipping as the market absorbed the costs that would be involved in growing its AI business… • 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. UK users have reiterated the views coming out of the US (at least on the consumer side) that a Tik Tok ban in the US could have be “potentially devastating” for some UK businesses, including online traders. When India banned Tik Tok, the migration to Instagram was ‘almost 100%’ according to an insider speaking to Radio Four this morning. French air traffic controllers are striking today over stalled salary Toys in the news. Hasbro shares rose 11% on Tuesday on the back of a Q1 earnings beat. Mattel shares rose a lesser 2.4% on reduced Q1 losses. FINANCE & MARKETS: The CBI has reported that ‘sentiment within the manufacturing sector improved in April and output expectations were the strongest for six months.’ Recent flash PMI numbers suggested a move backwards in April… • 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. Car production in the UK fell in March by 27% as factories adjusted for new models according to the SMMT. Sterling $1.2463 and €1.1644. Oil $88.18. UK 10yr gilt yield 4.34%. Markets mixed yesterday and London set to open little changed 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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