Whitbread sales rise and says German growth on target

Whitbread PLC said Thursday that total sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2020 rose 1% and that it continues to extend the total committed pipeline in Germany.

The owner of the budget Premier Inn hotel chain WTB, -5.50% said that U.K. sales from its accommodation business rose 0.3% on a like-for-like basis in the 13-week period ended Nov. 29 and that total sales grew by 1% despite challenging market conditions in the U.K.

Whitbread said that weak business and leisure confidence continued in the U.K., but added that it was partially offset by the strength of the central London market, where it said it outperformed.

The FTSE 100-listed hotel-and-restaurant company also said that its growth in Germany remains firmly on target and that its pipeline of hotels has extended to almost 50.

Whitbread said that its pipeline of rooms now stands at around 8,500 rooms across 48 hotels, with occupancy levels of 80.8%. It will be opening 20 hotels through 2020, it said.

The company added that it expects to deliver full-year results in line with views.

Big Yellow Group Q3 LFL Revenue Up 2.9% – Quick Facts

Big Yellow Group plc (BYG.L) reported third-quarter revenue of 32.3 million pounds, up 1.9% from prior year. Like-for-like revenue increased by 2.9% in the quarter.

Year to date revenue was 96.6 million pounds, an increase of 3.0% from prior year. Like-for-like revenue improved 3.8%, year to date.

James Gibson, CEO, said: “The economic and political uncertainty that we referred to in our interim results continued during the lead-up to the December election. Following, the election however, trading in the quarter improved. Despite this uncertainty, the business continued to deliver revenue and rate growth over the quarter.”

Halfords Group Q3 LFL Revenue Up 1.3%; Reaffirms Profit Guidance – Quick Facts

Halfords Group plc (HFD.L), a provider of motoring and cycling products and services, issued a trading update for the 14-week period to 3 January 2020. Group revenue was up 4.6%, while like-for-like revenue improved 1.3%.

Graham Stapleton, CEO, said: “Our results reflect the positive actions we have taken across the Group to deliver on our strategy, particularly Motoring Services, which grew strongly.”

Halfords Group reconfirmed its expectation that fiscal 2020 underlying profit before tax, on a pre-IFRS 16 and 52-week basis, will be in the range of 50 million pounds to 55 million pounds.

Germany lays out plan to exit coal-fired power plants

BERLIN (AP) — German officials have agreed on a plan to shut down the nation’s coal-fired power plants by the mid to late 2030s, the government said Thursday.

A year ago, a government-appointed panel recommended that Germany stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2038 at the latest, as part of efforts to curb climate change.

However, efforts to translate that into policy had stalled over recent months. Some areas, particularly in the less prosperous east, are heavily dependent on lignite coal mining.

Federal government officials and governors of affected states agreed on a “path to shut down” coal-powered plants at a meeting that ended in the early hours of Thursday, the government said in a statement.

It said that reviews will be carried out in 2026 and 2029 to determine whether Germany can exit coal-fired electricity generation in 2035, three years before the final deadline. Many other details weren’t immediately available.

Germany gets more than a third of its electricity from burning coal, generating large amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

The federal government already has approved a plan to spend up to 40 billion euros ($44.6 billion) by 2038 to cushion the impact on coal-mining regions of abandoning the fossil fuel. That money is supposed to start flowing once parliament has passed legislation setting out the dates and terms of Germany’s exit from coal.

Stock To Watch- H & R Block

Shares of tax preparation services company H & R Block Inc. (HRB) rose 2.51% on Wednesday before closing at $24.54. The stock has been trading in a range of $22.79- $29.62 in the past one year. The trading volume saw an increase yesterday at $5,172 K compared with the average volume of 3,315 K.

Last week H & R announced that the company is making the year 2020 to “Switch to Block” by offering more options for people to file their taxes. The company’s online tax filing platform “Tax Pro Go”, launched in 2017 allows people to have their taxes done by a real tax pro without visiting an office.

In December last year, H & R Block had reported revenue growth of 8% in the second quarter to $161 million. Adjusted loss per share, however, widened to $0.85 in the quarter from $0.78 in the corresponding year-ago period.

The company had bought back 7.3 million shares during the first six months of fiscal 2019 for $181.0 million, or $24.75 per share.

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Donald Trump Jr. Spectacularly Self-Owns With Question About Democrats

Donald Trump Jr. asked a snarky question about the Democrats on Twitter and it spectacularly backfired.

President Donald Trump’s eldest son praised his father’s signing of a new trade agreement with China in a tweet, below, and asked people to “name a single Democrat accomplishment?”

Many commenters were quick to remind Trump Jr. that the Democratic-controlled House had impeached his father over the Ukraine scandal.

“I’d say that was a pretty big accomplishment,” wrote one.

Others highlighted the Democratic taking of the House in the 2018 midterms.