DOM, Nichols, Bill’s, Barclaycard Feb data, jobs, planning & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

I was just saying over the weekend that I thought I’d seen a hare, once, but I couldn’t be sure if I really had or if it was just a memory constructed from what someone else had told me.

Such are the vicissitudes of advancing age but then I saw five of the lanky b***ers in the space of ten minutes.

Two were racing across fields like idiots on their own and another three were having what looked for all the world like a speeded up punch-up for long-legged rabbits outside a pub at closing time.

This was also in the middle of a field.

Each to their own, of course. It was near Thixendale in the Yorkshire Wolds which, if you’ve never been there, and let’s face it, who has, is a pretty but somewhat spooky and very isolated village doing a fair impression of a miniature Royston Vasey.

It sits in a dry valley and the absence of water where water should rightfully be is a bit disturbing in itself.

Where’s the stream, you may ask. Gone, they’ll tell you whilst pointing vaguely in the direction of Hell. Down there.

Anyway, on to the news:

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BARCLAYCARD SPENDING DATA:

Barclaycard has produced spending data for February saying that ‘consumer card spending grew 1.0% year on year in February.’ It points out that this is down on January’s 1.9% growth. The number follows on from 0.0% month in December and a decline of 0.5% in November. All of the above numbers lag general inflation. January storms hit that month’s spend but February has no such excuse. There may be a slight drift back towards cash but the last seven months now have all been either negative or below inflation….

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Jobs market:

Kickresume reports on a survey of workers regarding AI suggesting that 11% of respondents believe they have been put out of a job by artificial intelligence. It suggests that this is causing disquiet across a larger proportion of the workforce than that directly impacted to date…

Planning issues:

The CBI has commented on the publication of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill saying that ‘unlocking private investment is the catalyst for the productivity gains needed to deliver long-term sustainable growth. Planning reform and infrastructure delivery are top priorities for the CBI and our members….’

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Protein prices:

The Telegraph reports that ‘steak prices are soaring across Britain as a cattle shortage pushes the cost of beef to record highs.’ Butchers such as Birtwistles and steak restaurants across the country have commented on this recently. The Telegraph says ‘restaurant owners and butchers have warned of significant price increases because of a supply crisis amid growing demand for red meat….’

Other news:

Commenting on Scottish Labour’s Skills for Scotland plan as to how to spend all of Scotland’s share of the Apprenticeship Levy funding, UKH Scotland director Leon Thompson says ‘hospitality is a major employer in Scotland and it’s good to see Scottish Labour lay out its plan for reforming the skills system, which is critical to developing a strong talent pipeline for hospitality businesses….’

The UK’s Champagne Shippers’ Association has speculated that the UK, where champagne sales are resilient, could overtake the US to become the drink’s largest export market.

DOMINO’S PIZZA GROUP FY NUMBERS:

Domino’s Pizza Group has this morning reported full year numbers and our comments thereon are set out below:

The numbers: DOM reports system sales up 2.0% at £1.572bn with group revenue down by 0.4% at £664.5m (all numbers compared with 52 week FY23 pro-forma). Trading features LFL sales up 0.7% ‘with improving performance in every quarter, Q4 24 +3.0%’. The company reports underlying EBITDA up by 6.4% at £143.4m and underlying PBT up by 8.4% at £107.3m. DOM reports underlying EPS up by 13.3% at 20.4p and thedividend for the year is 11.0p against 10.5p in FY23.  0.2% at £767.7m with group revenue down by 1.8% at £326.8m.

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COMPANY NEWS:

Nichols has reported full year numbers to end-2024 saying that revenue rose by 1.2% to £172.8m with adjusted PBT down by 3.6% at £31.4m. The company adds that adjusted EPS is up by 13.5% at 64.02p and the total dividend for the year is up by 13.4% at 32.0p…

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Casual dining chain Bill’s reports that it has seen a remarkable turnaround’ in sales and EBITDA over the past 24 months. EBITDA has risen to £11.2m in FY24 from £5.5m in FY2022…

Keystone Brewing Group has announced an exclusive sales and distribution partnership with the ‘World’s Best Lager’, Hofmeister. The deal expands Keystone’s premium brand portfolio and will enable Hofmeister to significantly scale its GB operations .

German Doner Kebab CEO Simon Wallis has told MCA’s Food to Go Conference that the company is targeting 300 UK sites and £400m in sales by 2028…

Irish Distillers, which is owned by Pernod Ricard, has temporarily halted whisky production at its Midleton Distillery in County Cork, where the company produces Jameson whisky….

BrewDog CEO James Arrow is reported to be stepping down for personal reasons having only taken the job last year. James Taylor will succeed him and Lauren Carrol has been appointed COO….

Coffee retailer Grind is to open its first venue outside of the capital in Gary Neville’s upcoming Manchester development.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Travel Weekly reports that Jet2 is to discount all summer 2025 bookings made via independent travel agents or homeworkers. It says the discounts could save a family of four up to £300.

The Balearic islands are set to raise their peak season Sustainable Tourism Tax during June, July and August by between 66% and 200%.

Virgin Group is reported aiming to raise £700m to fund a plan to launch cross-Channel rail services to compete with Eurostar.

Birmingham is reported set to re-investigate whether to introduce a ‘tourist tax’ on overnight visitors to help maintain and fund museums, art galleries and culture venues.

OTHER LEISURE:

X (was Twitter) suffered a number of major outages yesterday. There were more than 8,000 outage reports from UK users alone.

Tesla shares have now more than halved since their c$479 highs seen just three months ago. The shares fell 15% yesterday and now change hands at $222.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Markets wobbled yesterday as US President Donald Trump declined to dismiss fears that his tariffs could spark a US recession. He said ‘I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big.’

Sky News reports that the ‘uncertainty’ index is on the rise as US president Donald Trump flip-flops on policy.

Sterling lower at $1.2874 and €1.1884. Oil lower at $69.37. UK 10 year gilt yield down 2 basis points at 4.64%. World markets lower yesterday but London set to open up around 24 points as at 6.30am.

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