Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 below day's peak at 7,794.89
- US stocks cautious on debt ceiling worries
- HSBC (LON:HSBA) says Asia business is "motoring"
Wake up and smell the coffee (prices)
London’s bleary-eyed morning commuters could be in for a rude awakening if the global coffee bean shortage continues to drive brew prices up.
Soaring demand for the cheaper robusta bean variety is causing a global shortage of the hardier bean as growers struggle to keep up.
Meanwhile, robusta’s more sophisticated cousin, the arabica variety typically used in fancier outlets, has been hit by severe frost and natural disasters in the arabica-growing hotspots of Brazil and Central America.
Though robusta, which is mainly grown in Vietnam and Indonesia, is typically used in instant coffee blends, it is also finding its way into espresso-based brews.
Recent supply constraints from all this demand have sent London robusta futures soaring to a 12-year in the past week, marking a 30% year-to-date increase.
As noted by Bloomberg today, instant coffee prices in Europe’s largest coffee market Germany have increased by up to 20% in the past year, for which London commuters can certainly commiserate.
God save our livers
Pub and bar sales rocketed over the Coronation weekend, research from industry CGA has found, strengthened by a huge uptick in people drinking spirits.
The rainy weather during King Charles III’s Coronation may have meant some stayed home rather than heading to central London on Saturday, but this didn’t stop celebrations.
Beginning on Friday, a day before the ceremony, total drink sales jumped 23% year-on-year. Sales then slowed on the actual day of the Coronation, rising only 12%, as many headed to street parties or the nearest TV to watch the King be crowned.
It was on Sunday when the celebrations really began, with the sales of drinks rocketing 118% versus the same day a year ago, and that party feeling continued into the Bank Holiday Monday, with beverage sales spiking 56% annually.
Spirits were the best-performing category over the weekend, soaring 192% on Sunday and 52% over the whole weekend.
It has been a tough 2023 for the spirits market, over the Easter weekend sales were 22% behind the equivalent period a year before.
A quick look at today’s movers in London
Fallers
Microsaic Systems (LON:MSYS) - down 10% to 0.03p: Shares dropped on Monday as the developer of micro-electronic instruments and analytical solutions revealed that the audit of its full-year 2022 (FY22) results is taking longer than initially anticipated.
Pembridge Resources (LON:PERE) - down 82% to 0.25p: Shares tanked amid funding worries over Minto Mining, a Canadian company it has loaned C$2mln to. Minto has told Pembridge it is unlikely to be able to repay the sum, including the $250,000 tranche due this year.
Risers
IOG (LON:IOG) - up 11.5% to 5.8p: Shares jumped higher after it told investors that a previously announced "well control event" in the Blythe H2 well has now been isolated without the need to drill a sidetrack well.