From the -100bps drop in margins as organic sales growth slowed to only +0.4% for its Q2, IPG clearly didn’t see it coming, particularly following the solid performance in Q1 and the easier prior year comparatives it was cycling against for Q2. This lack of visibility and the uncertain impact of Fed monetary tightening on […]
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Confused? Well you should be be if you’ve been believing the usual output from the Federal Reserve. Contrary to the narrative of robust US economic growth and tightening labour markets requiring a normalisation of interest rates, things aren’t quite as rosy as Ms Yellen had been suggesting. Behind the increasingly absurd non-farm payroll data with […]
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German specialist cooker manufacturer Rational took top honours today with its guidance upgrade as US chain sales continue to storm ahead while back in Brexitland, an underwhelming Q1 sales report from M&S and for Pearson a difficult attempted exit from its consumer book venture (PRH) did little to lift the gloom. . Rational – FY17 […]
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With the Fed having already edged up rates, June’s non-farm payrolls were going to have to be fairly spectacular to merit much attention as the ‘new’ Presidential grand tour moves to Europe and the G20. The reported MoM net job additions of +222k looked solid enough, although strip out government adds of +35k and Private […]
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If the UK consumer expenditure numbers reported by VISA in mid June suggest a stalling domestic economy, last week’s ONS release of the UK household savings ratio for Q1 suggests piggy banks are having to be raided to fund what little growth in expenditures we are seeing. This all seems a World away from the […]
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One Billion Dollars!, Yes, that’s right, Diageo has agreed to pay up to one billion dollars ($700m up front with the remaining $300m deferred) for Casamigos, a four year old tequila brand created in 2013 by George Clooney, Rande Gerber (a “nightlife entrepreneur and Mr Cindy Crawford), & Mike Meldman (a property developer). Given that […]
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Whitbread Q1 trading update confirms solid start to year – remains in the GrowthRater portfolio The recent consumption data for May from VISA that I highlighted earlier in the month which showed a relatively buoyant YoY growth in expenditure of +3.3% for Hotels, Restaurants and Bars was also reflected in Whitbread’s Q1 trading update. While […]
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Energy politics makes for fickle friends. A decade ago, Qatar was the US administration’s BFF, with its invitation to relocate the US regional military base from Saudi Arabia to Qatar in return for support to secure a pipeline access through Syria for its soon to be expanding natural gas production. As a way of pricking […]
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