Festive like-for-likes up 6.1%Year-to-date sales up 4%£60 million extra labour costs expectedPubs group JD Wetherspoon (JDW) reported strong trading over the festive season with like-for-like sales up 6.1% over the three weeks between 16 December 2024 to 5 January 2025.In the last 12-weeks, representing Wetherspoon's financial second quarter, like-for-like sales growth slowed to 4.6% compared...

Strong festive tradingLike-for-like sales up 11.6%Confident outlook statementPremium pubs and rooms operator Young & Co (YNGA:AIM) said it traded 'exceptionally well' over the Christmas and New Year period with like-for-like sales for the five weeks to 13 January up 11.6%.Total managed sales ticked up 30.4% reflecting a contribution from City Pubs, which was acquired in March 2024.Investors...

Adjusted pre-tax profit up 9.3% to £49.4 millionFull year revenue up 5.4% to £388.8 millionAcquisition of City Pub group completed on 4 MarchPubs and hotels group Young & Co (YNGA:AIM) reported a 9.3% increase in adjusted pre-tax profit to a record £49.4 million for the year ending 1 April 2024, despite continued cost inflation and consumer uncertainty.The completed acquisition of the City...

The UK hospitality sector has been one of the biggest casualties of the pandemic and the slowest to rebound.Enforced closures during lockdowns, surging energy, labour and commodity prices post pandemic and ongoing train strikes mean hospitality has faced more than its fair share of obstacles over the last three years.The extra challenges mean hospitality has been slower than other sectors to...

Predators continue to swoop on the UK stock market's undervalued prey and a number of consumer-facing firms have drawn bids or flagged takeover interest since Shares addressed the mergers and acquisitions theme on 16 November.High-profile targets include Hotel Chocolat (HOTC:AIM), City Pub Group (CPC:AIM) and Musicmagpie (MMAG:AIM), and given the lowly valuations currently ascribed to UK...

Hotel Chocolat agrees £530 million takeoverYoung's buys City Pub for £162 millionHotel Chocolat shares up 160%, City pub up 35%Mergers and acquisitions have become a common feature of the UK investment landscape in recent years.Two high-quality trade buyers got in on the action today with premium chocolatier Hotel Chocolat (HOTC) agreeing an all-cash offer from privately owned Mars while...

Stock prices in London opened tepidly on Thursday, amid both positive and negative developments from blue-chip companies.The FTSE 100 index opened up 1.63 points at 7,488.54. The FTSE 250 was down 25.89 points, 0.1%, at 18,650.59, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.33 points, 0.2%, at 716.90.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 747.26, the Cboe UK 250 was flat at 16,152.02, and the Cboe Small Companies...

Full year recovery in sales and profit continuesDividend increased by 30%Strong start to new financial year sees analyst upgradePub and hotel group Fuller Smith & Turner (FSTA) saw continued recovery from Covid and strike disruptions after reporting full year sales up by a third and adjusted pre-tax profit 76% higher to £12.7 million in line with market expectations.The company said current...

- Revenues up 40% in first quarter- Past investments paying-off- CEO Dardis steps down as plannedThirsty Brits continue to power sales momentum for pubs and hotels group Young & Co (YNGA:AIM), which saw a 34.9% rise in like-for-like sales in the first 13 weeks of fiscal 2023. Revenues for the period rose 39.7%.Investors broadly welcomed the news, with the shares gaining 0.6% to £11.27 on...

With markets being buffeted by concerns over rising inflation and slowing growth - the dreaded 'stagflation' - and nothing but negative headlines it's easy to be despondent about the outlook for UK businesses.Yet, having scanned all the company announcements of the last couple of weeks, it's clear there are still dozens of firms which are optimistic about trading and/or are raising their...

-Return to profit despite restricted trading-Strong start to new financial year -Final dividend reinstatedPubs and hotels group Young & Co (YNGA:AIM) returned to profit for the year ended 28 March 2022 despite the challenges of Omicron over Christmas.Trading since the period end has been 'excellent' with managed house revenues 17% higher than pre-pandemic levels. In the last five weeks sales...

Shares in drinks-maker Diageo (DGE) hit a new all-time high of £39.48 this week after the firm released an ambitious set of sales targets reaching from the current financial year out to 2030.Chief executive Ivan Menezes said: 'We believe our sales growth trajectory has accelerated, underpinned by the strength of our advantaged position across geographies, categories and price tiers,' adding...

The opening of indoor hospitality on 17 May was the penultimate step on the Government's roadmap towards the complete removal of restrictions on 21 June, notwithstanding the threat of new variants.The UK's successful vaccination programme and falling hospitalisations over recent months has spurred hopes for a strong second half economic rebound, with the Bank of England upgrading its 2021...

It might not seem like it in the depths of a gloomy lockdown winter, but brighter days are ahead of us. By mid-February the UK hopes to have vaccinated most over-70s, with a large chunk of over-50s potentially covered by the end of March.This cohort should then be much better protected against Covid-19 and that could result in a new spending spree.Getting the vaccine should allow for the...

London's blue chip benchmark index seemingly took the imposition of a new England-wide lockdown in its stride, the FTSE 100 finishing 2 November with a 1.4% gain to 5,654 points, helped by a weaker pound.However, the more domestically focused FTSE 250 fell by 0.2% as investors fretted over the impact of Boris Johnson's latest lockdown on the non-essential retailers, pub companies and leisure...

Enterprise value (EV) is often underappreciated by investors who tend to focus on the market value of a company. It is arguably a better way to value a business than market capitalisation (also known as market cap) because it takes account of debts, preferred shares, minority interest and cash.Put simply, it is the value of the whole business, not just the portion financed by shareholders. In...

In another blow for the hard-pressed leisure sector, Boris Johnson has introduced a new three-tier restrictions framework to combat the spread of coronavirus, notably across the north of England.Noting that wet-led (drinks) establishments are expected to be harder hit than food-led venues, Liberum Capital has identified JD Wetherspoon (JDW) and Marston's (MARS) as having a larger exposure than...

Last week saw the much-awaited reopening of 'non-essential' retailers, after 12 weeks of lockdown restrictions, with images of crowds milling around at retail parks and lengthy queues outside high-street stores.Research group Springboard says that while consumers have started to return to shops, footfall in the first week of non-essential retail reopening in England was only half the level...

The FTSE 100 dipped 0.4% to 6,368 points on Thursday, dragged down by oil shares after Brent Crude prices fell 13% to $36.4 per barrel on heightened worries over a large build-up in US distillate inventories.Going in the other direction were pharma and beverage shares with AstraZeneca (AZN) up 1.7% to £87.4 and Diageo (DGE) 0.85% higher at £29.2.Asian shares rose to two-month highs with the...

The tough market backdrop may have blinded investors to the impressive re-positioning of pub and brewing firm Marston's.Free cash flow is expected to rise from £47m in 2019 to more than £80m in 2022, according to broker Shore Capital, and this helps underpin a 7%-plus dividend yield.We see potential for the stock to perform strongly as the strengths of the business become more widely...