Our live Investing Matters Podcast Special which took place at the Master Investor Show discussing 'How undervalued is the UK stock market?', has just been released. Listen here.
Reported earlier this week - A temporary withdrawal of product from market in Croatia after reports of illness following consumption.
Link - https://stocks.apple.com/AohMJ7gyOQWCTe7vMIKFtfA - Reported 8th November
Further reported by Reuters on the 10th November - Croatia clears all Coca-Cola products of safety concerns
Link - https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/croatia-clears-all-coca-cola-products-safety-concerns-2023-11-09/
If I had spare cash i would be buying at these levels.
Coca-Cola HBC AG
FURTHER STRENGTHENS ITS 24/7 BEVERAGE PARTNER STRATEGY
BY ACQUIRING FINLANDIA VODKA FROM BROWN-FORMAN
Zug, Switzerland - 19 June 2023 - Coca-Cola HBC AG ("Coca-Cola HBC") is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement to acquire Brown-Forman Finland Oy ("Company"), owner of the Finlandia vodka brand ("Finlandia"), from Brown-Forman Corporation's wholly-owned subsidiary, Brown-Forman Netherlands BV. The agreed purchase price amounts to US$220 million and is subject to customary closing price adjustments (the "Proposed Transaction"). The acquisition is being made through Coca-Cola HBC's wholly-owned subsidiary, CC Beverages Holdings II BV. Completion of the Proposed Transaction is expected in the second half of 2023 and is subject to regulatory approvals.
Finlandia was established in 1970 and is a leading vodka brand in Central and Eastern Europe with annual volumes of 2.7 million 9L cases[1] globally, of which more than 60% is being generated within Coca-Cola HBC's geographic footprint. Finlandia is bottled by Anora Group plc in Finland based on a long-term production services agreement and is available in pure and in several flavored versions.
Full RNS - https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/CCH/cch-to-acquire-finlandia-vodka-from-brown-forman/16003742
Down 4% so far today, seems to be an outlier, at least in my portfolio. Have I missed some news / financial bulletin?
I am not moving from RDW to BDEV, I am thinking about building a position in BDEV to mirror my position in RDW.
My point was that there might be an over-reaction if the BoE decides to make an additional base rate increase, outside of the scheduled process.
Presumably the SP of BDEV (and other U.K. builders) will get a good (hopefully temporary) clobbering if we get an additional interest rate bump?
I have a position in RDW and have been thinking about moving to mirror it in BDEV for some sector diversification.
The BDEV does seem to have had more of a beating than most.
Looks like the SP is holding up better than I expected!
I think a red day is likely, regardless of outcome, due to yesterdays CPI data.
FY results due today. Show us what ya got Redrow!
I wasn’t expecting the drop to come on this strong, or this early. You can thank HSBC for that. I still think there is more to come, so I’ll be holding off on buying for now.
Sept 2 (Reuters) - Shares in British housebuilders' index tumbled to a near nine-year low on Friday after analysts at HSBC warned that the country is on the cusp of a housing downturn, as a steep climb in mortgage rates casts a cloud over demand.
The UK housing sector, a pandemic winner, is now showing signs of losing some momentum with surveyors reporting fewer new-buyer inquiries in recent months, while the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases has fallen below pre-pandemic levels.
HSBC's Building Materials team predicts a 20% slump in UK housing demand for a year from this autumn, the brokerage wrote in a note. Britain's housebuilders' index .FTNMX402020 fell about 4% to its lowest since 2013.
The brokerage downgraded all UK housebuilders under its coverage to "hold" from "buy", except for high-end homebuilder Berkeley Group BKGH.L, whose rating was cut to "reduce" from "hold". Meanwhile, it kept its "buy" rating on Vistry VTYV.L.
The research action comes at a time when Britain is widely expected to enter a phase of recession at the end of the year in the face of surging inflation and rising interest rates.
Berkeley, Barratt BDEV.L, Persimmon PSN.L and Taylor Wimpey TW.L led declines on the FTSE 100 .FTSE, falling between 2% and 5%.
The sector index has plunged about 44% this year with the initial declines coinciding with the government's move in early 2022 to ramp-up pressure on housebuilders to foot the bill for cladding removal before the market started pricing in the gloomy environment, particularly a rise in operational woes.
Red-hot house prices in the UK have helped homebuilders stave off cost pressures from supply chain disruptions and labour shortages, caused partly by Brexit and the coronavirus crisis, but key players including Barratt and Persimmon in recent months have highlighted the toughening situation.
A 60% drop from current levels seems a bit overcooked in my book, unless you are expecting the Zantac lawsuit to come to fruition?
I'm currently hedging my bets and will continue to build a position here. Bought some this morning @ 255. Premium personal healthcare will always attract in my book.
The market reaction seems positive, though possibly no reaction and it’s just correlated to the movement in gold spot price.
Possibly looking at options for raising capital? (A total guess, I don’t know enough to make an informed guess)
Simply Wall St articles seem to be mainly generated by a computer algorithm and all follow the same format / layout. The numbers are generally useful, but the interpretation of them leaves a great deal to be desired (IMO) and always fail to recognise the broader market / global issues.
Aug 9 (Reuters) - Coca Cola HBC AG ::COCA-COLA HBC AG - CCH AGREES TO ACQUIRE THREE CENTS.COCA COLA HBC - AGREES TO ACQUIRE THREE CENTS, A FAST GROWING, SUPER-PREMIUM ADULT SPARKLING BEVERAGE AND MIXER BUSINESS.COCA COLA HBC - WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY, CC BEVERAGES HOLDINGS II B.V., HAS REACHED AN AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE ESM EFFERVESCENT SODAS MANAGEMENT.COCA COLA HBC - AGREED ENTERPRISE VALUE AMOUNTS TO EUR 45 MILLION, SUBJECT TO CERTAIN CLOSING ADJUSTMENTS.COCA COLA HBC - COMPLETION OF TRANSACTION IS EXPECTED IN SECOND HALF OF 2022.COCA COLA HBC - AGREED ENTERPRISE VALUE AMOUNTS TO EUR 45 MILLION.
Sorry for the capitals, it’s mobile copy and paste job. At a first glance it’s be an obvious fit for the CCH portfolio, and presumably a number of synergies to be found. Never heard of the company before. More research required.
Anyone else know anything?
Thanks for the post MagicFinance. Could you confirm the source for future reference / further reading? Many thanks.
I'm holding HLN as a split from my GSK holdings, and trying to decide whether or not to add to them. For me it would likely be a long term hold, expecting low-medium capital value growth and steady dividends (After the first couple of years as the company finds it feet, so to speak). Obviously the current Debt/Equity ratio is a cause for concern.
From the recent results release I note the following point (Page 2) '...and Net debt/EBITDA below 3x
by the end of 2024.
Current Debt/Equity stands at 40%.
My back of a fag packet math puts HLN's current Net Debt / EBITDA at 5.02. So for HLN to hit below 3, they must be looking at change in cash & equivalents growth, Net Debt pay down and/or EBITDA growth.
The fact HLN have identified a Net debt/EBITDA target and put a date on it gives me confidence that they aren't just putting their heads in the sand and ignoring that particular problem. Personally this moves me towards a weak buy from hold.
Any other thoughts? Comments?
I guess it really depends how much squeeze we are looking at. What gives me greater confidence is that (IMO) it boils down to macro economic factors, rather than a failing of the company. The quote in the report runs something like
'operating margin ... is expected to be slightly down'
Given the global operating environment I'd be surprised if it wasn't TBH.
They can be used in shops if they have enough change. Oh boy that’s a good one! The average retailer here goes into a meltdown if they see a £50 note, can you imagine the reaction of slapping one of those bad boys down on the counter ??