Langton Capital – 2025-11-26 – Labour costs, tourist taxes, late night market, MARS, DOM & other:
Labour costs, tourist taxes, late night market, MARS, DOM & other:A DAY IN THE LIFE: Catching up on results after the rush to get numbers out yesterday. The Budget will dominate trading today meaning that both a) little new trading news is likely and b) it is a good time to bury bad news if you had a mind to do so. There will no doubt be plenty to moan about later. Including the football, where early predictions chez Langton that The Mighty Hull City would somehow get themselves into a relegation battle by the New Year don’t look too far wide of the mark. But, for the moment, let’s move 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: UK F&B market: Alix Partners MD Graeme Smith has told the MCA’s Restaurant Conference that consumer cutbacks in the UK F&B market are only around half of US levels. He says that 62% of UK consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending in the current economic environment with 33% saying they are cutting back on restaurant spending and 31% cutting their retail spend… National Living Wage: The government has announced that the national living wage will increase to £12.71 an hour, up 4.1%, from April next year. The minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds will rise by 8.5% to £10.85 per hour, closing differentials… • 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: Late night economy. The NTIA quotes new research from Obsurvant as saying that 73% of UK consumers don’t believe that the government is supporting night-time industries… • 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. Retail: The CBI reports that ‘sentiment amongst retailers fell at the sharpest rate in 17 years, with a growing share of firms expecting their business situation to deteriorate over the coming quarter….’ Sugary drinks. Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting has told Parliament that ‘this government will not look away as children get unhealthier.’ He says pre-packaged milkshakes and coffees that are high in sugar face higher taxes from 2028. The Nationwide predicts that there will be some 12 million transactions this Black Friday with the average shopper spending £123. Which yesterday reported that not a single deal offered on Black Friday 2024 was the cheapest in the year from May 2024 to May 2025. Jobs market. A report in the US suggests that up to 40% of US jobs could be under threat from Artificial Intelligence. MARSTON’S – FULL YEAR NUMBERS – WEBINAR: Trading comments – please also see earlier Flash Note: These trading comments in addition to the headline data earlier. • Co says it’s clear that reformatting pubs will be a ‘significant growth engine’. LFL sales were up 1.6% (vs market +0.7%), interest costs were well down. o LFL split? Food, drink & machines were all in growth. Mix change has resulted from premiumisation. o Currently, Oct & Nov are small months. December is key. Bookings are good (but walk-ins are very important). o Sales mix? Around 35% food & growing modestly. • Margins… • 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: Domino’s Pizza Group. Following the group’s announcement yesterday that CEO Andrew Rennie was to leave the company, we put out a note to clients… Abrupt management change may not be taken well by the market. But the shares have been weak for some time already and chair, Ian Bull, says that ‘the Board believes that there are a number of opportunities to drive further growth and value creation in Domino’s core 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. RedCat Hospitality has sold a package of 21 pubs to Admiral Taverns. This comprises all of the company’s leased and tenanted pubs and it leaves the group free to concentrate on managed pubs and its accommodation arm… • 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. Shake Shack Inc in the US has announced that Katherine Fogertey, Chief Financial Officer, will step down from the Company effective March 4, 2026. The company says it ‘plans to launch a search for a new Chief Financial Officer immediately.’ Share price movements. Companies reporting yesterday returned variable share price performances in the wake of their announcements. CPG (full year numbers yesterday) shares fell by 1.7% or 41p. DOM shares (departure of CEO) fell by 1.4% or 2.3p. MARS shares (full year numbers) rose by 9p or 18% as the company reassured the market that its recovery was very much on track. Cake Box Holdings has reported H1 results for the 26 weeks to 28 September 2025 syaing that revenue rose by 53.5% to £28.8m with underlying EBITDA of £4.6m vs £3.5m in the same period last year. The company reports a 7.4% drop in PBT to £2.6m… • 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. Restaurateur Martin Kuczmarski is to open another space on Dover Street, close to his original restaurant. The Dover Street Counter is pitched as ‘a place to drop in – and likely stay longer than planned.’ The unit will be based on the diners in Los Angeles circa 1950. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: Tourist taxes: The government has announced that local authorities will be able to introduce tourist taxes on overnight stays across England in order to raise money to invest in local services. The hospitality industry could see the moves as damaging. Kate Nicholls at UKH says ‘this cost will be passed directly on to consumers, drive inflation and undermine the government’s aim to reduce the cost of living.’ easyJet yesterday reported that its holidays business ‘continues to perform strongly, achieving a PBT of £250 million in FY25, meeting our target ahead of schedule.’ The company adds that ‘as a result, we’ve set a new, upgraded target of achieving £450 million PBT by FY30.’ Safestay yesterday announced that it had ‘exchanged conditional contracts for the sale and leaseback of its freehold property in Brighton to a private investor for a cash consideration of £3.125 million…. Heathrow Airport’s plan to move the M25 motorway in order to create a third runway has been approved by the government. Two plans had been under consideration. Bloomberg reports that American Express Global Business Travel is exploring a sale “after a tough run on the stock market.” OTHER LEISURE: Games Workshop has announced the appointment of Max Bottrill to the Board of Directors as Group Product Director with effect from 1 December 2025. It notes that ‘Max joined Games Workshop in July 1996 as an assistant in the Legal and Licensing department. Over the last 29 years he has managed various areas of the business, including manufacturing and logistics, and was IP and Product Director, prior to his appointment to the Board.’ Tesla has continued to lose market share in Europe, according to industry figures. The company sold 5,600 cars in the EU in October, down 48% on the same month a year ago… Sky News reports that Evoke has drawn up contingency plans to seek a buyer for its market-leading Italian operation to fortify its balance sheet if higher gambling taxes are announced in today’s Budget. PureGym yesterday reported Q3 numbers to end-September saying that revenue had risen to £184.7m from £144,3m in the prior year. EBITDA was £83.9m compared to £81.1m in the prior year and the loss before tax was reduced slightly to £22.1m from £23.2m in Q3 last year…. • 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. City AM reports further comments from the gambling industry saying that it could be obliged to cut jobs and high street sites if it is hit with additional taxes in this year’s Budget. FINANCE & MARKETS: Sterling up at $1.3190 and €1.1384. Oil lower at $62.72. UK 10 year gilt yield unchanged at 4.53%. World markets better yesterday and London set to open around 26 points better 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. 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