Deliveroo, Whitbread, brewers, NIC changes, property & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Football, huh?

Hard to see through the tears after Hull City’s performance on Saturday and the results elsewhere didn’t help, either.

The team’s fate is not now exclusively in its own hands and perhaps time to reflect that, if you look around and can’t find someone to blame, the situation that you find yourself in may be your own fault.

Anyway, it’s the start of a five-day week before another short one next time around. Good luck to the team for next Saturday and, despite the occasional chin wobble, it’s time to move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Independent brewers:

The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates has suggested that ‘heavy headwinds threaten to blow independent breweries off course.’ it says ‘whilst demand for independent beer remains strong, UK brewers face “heavy headwinds” from increased taxation, market access restrictions and reduced alcohol consumption facing breweries which threaten to blow the industry off course. This means that whilst average production climbed 10% last year, nearly half (46%) of independent brewers say their main priority is survival and almost a third (29%) expect turnover to fall….’

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NIC rises:

UKH CEO Kate Nicholls, in speaking to The Times, reiterates her view that April’s rise in employer National Insurance contributions risks further destabilising hospitality businesses….

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Property & corporate market:

Property agent and Stock & Inventory Systems company Christie Group has reported full year numbers to end-December saying that revenue rose by 15.4% to £60.4m with adjusted operating profit up from £0.3m to £2.0m….

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Other news:

Affordability. Digital payments company takepayments has reported on the UK’s most and least affordable cities saying that beer seems to be at its most affordable in Derby with London, Brighton, Portsmouth and Belfast amongst the most expensive…

Cost pressures: JDW chair Tim Martin has told ITV’s Peston programme that he would have concerns if taxes were to rise further in the autumn. Mr Martin says ‘I would be pretty anxious’ and he would not be alone. He says ‘business has borne a lot of the burden and I think the cries of help from business are not artificial. It will be difficult to whack them up again…’

DELIVEROO – DOORDASH MAKES BID APPROACH:

After the market closed on Friday, Deliveroo confirmed that it had received an approach from DoorDash proposing a bid for ROO at 180p per share. Our comments are set out below:

Friday’s announcement: Deliveroo announced that ‘on 5 April 2025 it received an indicative proposal from DoorDash, Inc. regarding a possible cash offer for…Deliveroo at a price of 180 pence per Deliveroo share.’ The company announced that ‘should a firm offer be made on the financial terms set out above, it would be minded to recommend such an offer to Deliveroo shareholders, subject to the agreement of the other terms of the offer.’ It added that it has ‘decided to engage in discussions with DoorDash in relation to the Possible Offer and has provided DoorDash with access to due diligence.’ Deliveroo cautions that there can be no certainty that any firm offer for Deliveroo will be made. it adds ‘at this time, shareholders are advised to take no action in respect of the Possible Offer.’

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COMPANY NEWS:

Deliveroo, perhaps unsurprisingly, has this morning announced it ‘has suspended with immediate effect, the £100 million Buyback Programme that was announced on 18 March 2025.’ It adds that ‘any recommencement of the Buyback Programme will be announced to the market.’

Keurig Dr Pepper has reported a 4.8% year-on-year increase in sales in Q1 with total revenues up to $3.6bn. The refreshment beverages side of the business performed well but coffee sales were 3.7% down with profits under pressure…

Joe & the Juice has promoted existing director Jeffrey Lawrence to Chairman of its Board.

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

Sky News reports regarding the soon-to-be-vacant chair of Whitbread that ‘Christine Hodgson, who chairs water company Severn Trent, and Andrew Martin, chair of the testing and inspection group Intertek, are the leading contenders for the Whitbread job. Sky quotes a ‘city source’ as saying that the search, which has been taking place for several months, is expected to conclude in the coming weeks.

Accor has reported that it has seen no major demand swings as a result of President Trump’s tariff flip-flopping and the resulting global economic uncertainty. The company reports that Q1 revenues rose 9.2% year over year to €1.35 billion, ahead of expectations….

OTHER LEISURE:

Alphabet, which owns Google and YouTube, has reported strong Q1 revenues of $90.23bn, up 12% on Q1 last year. The group reports $2.81 in earnings per share. Analysts were reportedly looking for revenue of $89.2bn and earnings of $2.01 per share.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that the UK’s trade with the EU is arguably ‘more important’ than that with the US.

The EY Item Club has reported that the UK economy could slow sharply in the next two years as a result of Donald Trump’s tariff war. EY says the UK GDP will grow by 0.8% this year, down from an earlier estimate 1%, and it has also cut its 2026 forecast from 1.6% to 0.9%.

Separately, a poll by Ipsos Mori suggests that three-quarters of Britons believe the economy will get worse over the next year with only 7% thinking it will get better. This is likely to impact spending decisions.

Sterling mixed at $1.3315 and €1.1710. Oil higher at $67.12. UK 10 year gilt yield down 2 basis points at 4.48%. World markets better on Friday & London set to open around 3 points better as at 6.30am.

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