Propel Newsletter Archive Page

SSP reports good trading momentum with Q1 lfl sales up 6%: SSP, the UK operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, has reported good trading momentum with like-for-like sales up 6% for the first three months of its 2025 financial year to 31 December 2024. The company said that the positive trading momentum it saw in the first eight weeks of the new year, continued through the remainder of the first quarter, and its expectations for the full year remain unchanged. For Q1 as a whole, group sales were up 14% on last year, on a constant currency basis, including like-for-like sales growth of 6%, net contract gains of 5% and a contribution from acquisitions of 5%. The company said its performance was underpinned by continued structural growth across the travel industry around the world, and a strong sales performance across all regions. It said: “On a constant currency basis, in North America sales grew by 17% year-on-year. The acquisitions of the Midfield Concessions business in Denver and ECG in Canada reached their first anniversary in the quarter and were treated as like-for-like from November and December respectively. In Continental Europe, sales growth of 5% reflected a solid performance notwithstanding an impact of (1)% from the previously announced exit of 13 unprofitable MSA sites in Germany, with further exits expected through the year as part of the regional recovery plan. In the UK, sales rose by 9%, driven by a strong like-for-like sales performance, reflecting good passenger numbers in the air sector and a lower incidence of industrial action in the rail sector compared with last year. In APAC and EEME, sales increased by 41%, as we saw strong like-for-like growth across the region, driven by increasing passenger numbers, and a benefit from acquisitions – most notably ARE in Australia, which was acquired in May last year.” It said that its new financial year has started well, with good revenue momentum being maintained. Patrick Coveney, chief executive of SSP Group, said: “We have made a good start to the new financial year. Our tightened agenda with a focus on driving returns from recent investments and enhancing efficiency to drive profitability is progressing well. Performance in the structurally growing and higher returning regions of North America and APAC and EEME, where we continue to invest, was particularly pleasing in the quarter. We are confident in our prospects for the balance of FY25 and beyond.”

Premium Club members to receive updated Multi-Site Database this week, videos from Restaurant Marketer & Innovator on Friday, 7 February: Premium Club members are to receive the updated Multi-Site Database on Friday (31 January). The next Propel Multi-Site Database provides details of 3,313 multi-site operators and is searchable in seven main segments. The database features 968 (29%) operators from the casual dining sector, 790 (23%) pub and bar operators, 566 (17%) cafe bakery operators, 460 (14%) quick service restaurant operators, 271 (8%) hotel operators, 209 (6%) experiential leisure operators and 55 (2%) fine dining operators. The database is updated each month, and this edition includes 33 new companies. New additions to the pub and bar sector include East Street Pub Company, operating in south Devon, The Cat & Wickets Pub Company, founded by England cricketers Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney, and WH Pubs, with gastropubs in Kent. Premium Club members are to be given access to the entire recording of the 2025 Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit Conference. Members will be sent 26 separate video presentations, featuring more than 60 speakers on Friday, 7 February, at 9am. Premium Club members also receive access to five additional databases: the New Openings Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025) and discounts on specialist sector reports such as the Propel 500. Operators that are Premium Club members are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Modella eyes WH Smith’s 500 stores: The owner of Hobbycraft is among potential bidders circling WH Smith’s struggling high street business. The Times reports that Modella Capital, which acquired the arts and crafts retailer in August, has held talks with WH Smith and its advisers over a possible sale of the 500 stores. The private equity firms Alteri and Hilco were also reported to have raised interest after WH Smith drafted in bankers from Greenhill to approach prospective buyers. Sky News first reported the development. Modella, Hilco and Alteri have experience in buying distressed UK retailers. Executives at Modella have been involved in companies including Paperchase and Tie Rack, while Alteri owns Bensons for Beds and Hilco owned Homebase until its collapse. However, this could raise concerns among some workers over what a private equity takeover would mean for the future of the WH Smith high street estate and roughly 5,000 workers. Jonathan Pritchard, a Peel Hunt analyst, said that while there was limited scope for a new owner to cut jobs, some could consider further store closures. “It is hardly as though this is a fat business, with lots of inefficient processes and store staff dossing about. Quite the opposite,” he said. It is understood that WH Smith plans to retain its name for its travel business and could therefore strike a sale deal which will not include the use of the brand on the high street or it could involve a licensing process. Peel Hunt predicted WH Smith would sell the business for between £100m and £130m based on recent earnings.

Wine tycoon in shares scandal is made bankrupt: Richard Balfour- Lynn, the property and wine mogul, has been made bankrupt after failing to pay millions in compensation to investors over a stock market scandal at the former owner of the luxury retailer Liberty. The Times reports that Balfour-Lynn said that he did not “have the means to pay the high levels of compensation” ordered by the Takeover Panel over the “deceit and wrongdoing” it found at MWB Group, the former listed company that he ran and which failed in 2012. Ten men, including Balfour-Lynn, were involved in “a web of sham transactions and false trails”, the panel said. The aim was to disguise the fact that three MWB managers and outside investors had pushed their shareholdings above the 29.9% mark, which is normally a mandatory trigger point for having to make a full offer. The culprits kept the arrangement secret and no offer was made. The panel also said that it had been “systematically lied to” and ordered the men be “cold-shouldered”, an official requirement that no regulated firm in the UK should agree to act for them in takeover offers. The offences took place in 2009, when MWB owned the Regent Street stores group Liberty and two hotel chains, Hotel du Vin and Malmaison, but were disclosed for the first time last July. In the High Court in November, Balfour- Lynn along with Jagtar Singh, an MWB finance director, and Guy Aspland-Robinson, an executive, were ordered to comply with the panel’s finding that they should pay £44.9m to shareholders. Balfour-Lynn, who is co-founder of the Kent-based Balfour Winery, was bankrupted last week. He told The Times: “I have, regretfully, been forced to file for bankruptcy. I am semi-retired and my wealth was tied up in MWB shares, of which I never sold any.” He said that because a “proposal of £2m compensation to eligible former shareholders” funded by his wife, Leslie, had been rejected by the panel, he feared that “eligible shareholders now stand to receive nothing”. The panel said it was not a creditor and so not in a position to accept the offer since it was MWB shareholders that were entitled to compensation.

Comptoir Group confirms Richard Kleiner’s reappointment as chair: Comptoir Group, the owner of the Comptoir Libanais and Shawa brands, has confirmed the reappointment of Richard Kleiner as its non-executive chair, with immediate effect. It said: “Richard Kleiner brings a wealth of relevant experience and knowledge to the company, having previously served on the board as non-executive chair between March 2014 and August 2022. Kleiner is a chartered accountant by profession with many years’ experience in corporate finance, public markets and mergers and acquisitions. In addition to being the chairman of Gerald Edelman Chartered Accountants, Kleiner was also a non-executive director of Avanti Capital plc, which was an AIM-listed investment company. Kleiner also has a number of other private company non-executive directorships. With this background Mr. Kleiner has substantial experience in guiding companies through their various phases of corporate development and growth.” The company said it continues its search to identify a suitable independent non-executive director to join its board, ideally with relevant hospitality experience. Ali Aneizi will remain on the board but with the appointment of the new chair, Jean-Michel Orieux will step down from the board and his role as chair with immediate effect. In addition, further to the announcement on 14 January 2025, the formal appointment of Chaker Hanna, as chief executive of the Company, is expected to be announced imminently upon his return from a period of overseas travel in Asia. Nick Ayerst, who will step down as chief executive of Comptoir Group next month, is to join fast-growing bakery brand Gail’s as its new managing director.

AG Barr – in line to deliver another year of strong top line growth: Drinks firm AG Barr has said it is in line to deliver another year of strong top line growth. It said that its revenue in 2024/25 is expected to be circa £420m (2023/24: £400m), representing circa 5% year-on-year growth, while full-year adjusted operating margin is expected to show strong improvement to circa 13.5% (2023/24:12.3%), helping to drive double-digit profit growth. The company said it remains a highly cash generative business, ending the year with more than £60m of net cash (2023/24: £53.6m). It said: “All three core soft drinks brands – IRN-BRU, Rubicon and Boost – performed strongly. Rubicon was the stand-out performer, achieving another year of double-digit revenue growth. IRN-BRU also delivered strong revenue growth and is now one of the top five carbonates in the UK. The Boost strategy, to focus on value over volume and synergy benefits, gained momentum in H2 with a step up in profitability. The brand is now fully integrated into our commercial operation and the insourcing of manufacturing remains on track.” Euan Sutherland, chief executive, said: “AG Barr is in line to deliver another year of strong top line growth, margin improvement and cash generation. These headline metrics highlight excellent progress towards our long-term financial goals. We have sustained brand momentum despite the well trailed wider market pressures, and continue to make good progress towards our margin target. We are committed to consistent long-term revenue growth and have confidence in further margin improvement as per our previous guidance. Our expectations for 2025/26 are unchanged and in line with market expectations.”