Langton Capital – 2025-02-04 – DGE, VARE, Grind, Admiral, Boxpark, trading, tariffs & other:
DGE, VARE, Grind, Admiral, Boxpark, trading, tariffs & other:A DAY IN THE LIFE: I swear inflation is getting real when it costs me £18 to get my hair cut and £6.20 to park for two hours in town. Because the former was only twelve quid a couple of years ago. Then it moved to £13, which was £15 with a tip and then it moved to £15. Still cost me £15, no tip this time. And now it’s £18 so what’s going on? And parking’s worse. I mean I know council tax is capped so councils have to get their money from other sources, fines, parking penalty notices & parking charges but it used to be £1 an hour in a couple of central York carparks. And granted, you had to know where they were and this was a while ago but £3.50 for an hour of £6.20 for two is just taking the Michael. Then coffees cost £21.50 for six drinks, five coffees, one hot chocolate and, as my associates were afflicted with short arms and deep pockets, I paid. Which begs the question why not just WhatsApp each other because, other than the price you pay when you give your soul and your innermost thoughts to Meta, at least it’s ‘free’. Anyway, 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: Trading: The Oxford Partnership comments on the first weekend of the Rugby Six Nations saying that it had a relatively minor impact, all told. The Partnership says some 16.7 million pints were sold ‘as fans flock to pubs’ but it adds that ‘the hospitality sector saw sales climb by +0.5% compared to the same game days in 2024, with a notable +19.7% surge against the previous Friday and Saturday….’ • 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. Tariffs & the drinks market: Concerns were expressed yesterday that the Trump Trade War could extend to alcoholic drinks. Currently, no tariffs have been announced on EU or UK drinks but President Trump said yesterday that EU tariffs were ‘coming soon’ and that the UK was ‘out of line’ in its trading with the US…. • 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. Bird flu: There are signs around York telling you when you are going into or coming out of an avian flu area. Just what Joe Public is meant to do about it is unclear but Prestige Purchasing points out that the ‘hospitality sector faces potential challenges due to an ongoing avian influenza (bird flu) outbreak affecting poultry and, more recently, dairy herds’. It says that the virus’s spread across the UK, Europe, and parts of the globe has raised concerns about price increases and supply chain disruptions for restaurants and food service businesses…. Other news: Cocktails: CGA reports that ‘the on-going demand for cocktails looks set to continue this year, with one in five (21%) consumers enjoying them, making cocktails the fourth most popular drinks category after soft drinks, wine and lager.’ This despite ongoing reports that spirits demand has been weak for some time… • 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. Business confidence: The Institute of Directors has reported that business confidence is currently at “historically depressed levels….” • 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. Footfall: Meaningful Vision writes on Linked In that its data reveals declining overall footfall (-0.2%), but pubs (+2.7%) and quick-service bakeries (+4.7%) saw growth. Morning dining surged (+13.8% for 6-9am), while evenings struggled (-12.3%). Restaurants, hit hardest (-4.2%), are responding with more promotions (+25%) and deeper discounts.’ Yorkshire puddings: We accidentally celebrated Yorkshire Pudding Day on Sunday when, unaware that it was a day when we should be doing so, we had a roast and consumed a dozen Yorkshire Pubs in house. COMPANY NEWS: Diageo has this morning reported H1 numbers saying that it has generated ‘improved organic sales in the first half of the fiscal year, despite a challenging environment.’ The company reports that net sales of $10.9 billion declined 0.6% ‘due to unfavourable foreign exchange, partially offset by an increase in organic net sales’…. • 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. Various Eateries has reported full year numbers to 29 September 2024 saying that revenue grew by 9% to £49.5m ‘largely driven by new site openings’. The company reports adjusted EBITDA profit of £0.3m (2023 loss of £2.2m), ‘due to solid trading performance and significant operational improvement.’ The group’s loss before tax was roughly halved to £3/4m from £6.7m in the prior year and the company had cash at bank of £5.8m (2023: £1.9m)….. • 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. Boxpark has announced that it has secured a lease extension at its Shoreditch site, which will now remain open until the end of September. CEO Ben McLaughlin says ‘the extension of our lease provides certainty to the 47 small, independent businesses, and hundreds of their employees across our Shoreditch site. We are absolutely thrilled to continue our journey in Shoreditch and remain committed to providing a platform for independent businesses and a vibrant space for our customers.’ The Daily Mail gives a shout-out to Young & Co saying that, as its shares have fallen by 24pc over the past year, the company now trades at around half of net asset value. The shares have fallen by around 45pc since the Mail first tipped them in October 2017. It says ‘this represents a 15 percentage point underperformance of the FTSE Aim All-Share index, which is a hugely disappointing result.’ Kerb is to feature the UK’s first integrated indoor vertical farm at Corner Corner, a multi-use space in Canada Water where it is to oversee trading. Admiral Taverns yesterday reported financial results for the 52 weeks ended 26 May 2024 saying that it had seen ‘continued growth underpinned by further progress against Group strategy to acquire, develop and maintain a high-quality estate of successful, individual, wet-led community pubs at the heart of their communities.’ The company said that underlying EBITDA rose to £59.7 million for the period (2023 – £55.9 million). Turnover was £194.5 million vs £182.0 million in the prior year. It says this was an ‘outperformance against budgets underpinned by high level of returning investment and proactive measures implemented to help licensees navigate a challenging macroeconomic environment….’ • 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. Grind. Grind Holdings has reported full year numbers to end-April 2024 to Companies House. The company operates cafés & coffee shops as well as selling product online to end customers and to business customers. Headline numbers: Grind & Co reports sales up 37% at £29.8m (2023: £21.7m…. • 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. Dubai-based luxury restaurant chain Fundamental Hospitality is reported to be exploring the potential for an IPO on the London market. Pizza Hut in the US is reported to have bought 18 stores from franchisee EYM Pizza in Georgia, Illinois and Wisconsin at a bankruptcy auction. Dine Brands, which owns that Applebee’s and IHOP brands in the US, has reportedly laid off about 9% of its workforce at its Pasadena head office. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: The Turkish tourism authorities have reported that visitor numbers from the UK rose by 16.6% in 2024 against the prior year. OTHER LEISURE: US President Donald Trump has said that a still-to-be-initiated US Sovereign Wealth Fund could buy TikTok. He says ‘we’re going to create a lot of wealth for the fund’ but has not given details as to funding, price etc. Gaming Realms has updated on full year trading saying that it ‘anticipates reporting FY24 revenue of approximately £28.5 million, up 22% against the prior year, and adjusted EBITDA of £13m, up 30% against FY23 and in line with market expectations.’ The company says its ‘strong performance was driven primarily by content licensing, supported by growth across all major markets….’ FINANCE & MARKETS: US President Donald Trump has said that he will extend his trade war by hitting EU exports to the country some time soon. Mr Trump said ‘they don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they take almost nothing and we take everything from them. Millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products….’ EU area inflation rose for the fourth consecutive month January on December. The January reading came in at 2.5% after 2.4% in the year to December. Donald Trump has agreed to postpone 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days. He has not yet pulled his proposed 10% tariff on Chinese goods. S&P’s UK PMI for January was produced yesterday in which it said that its measure rose to 48.3 in January from 47 in the previous month. Any number below 50 implies contraction. S&P says ‘the start of 2025 has seen the downturn in the UK manufacturing sector continue.’ It adds that ‘factory output, new orders and employment all fell further in January as companies faced weak market demand, rising costs and a deteriorating outlook….’ • 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. Sterling up at $1.2397 and €1.2047. Oil down at $75.24. UK 10 year gilt yield down 4 basis points at 4.49%. World markets lower yesterday but Far East recovering today. London set to open down around 17 points as at 6.30am. 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