Revolution Bars Group PLC (LON:RBG) have seen their shares jump over 5% following an impressive update.

The firm reported a seventh successive year of record Christmas sales and this lead to a rise in first half revenue.

Additionally, shareholders were further impressed as the firm announced a deal with real estate landlords to surrender its lease on five struggling sites, and have rent reductions at four other units.

In the four weeks to December 31, the firm saw a 4% rise in like for like sales, as weekly sales during the period averaged £65,000.

In the first half period, ending December 28 revenues grew 3.4% to £81.2 million from £78.5 million on year ago, as like for like sales also rose by 1.2%.

First-half adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, pre-IFRS16, are expected to rise in line with market expectations. The adjusted measure also excludes bar opening-costs and share-based payments.

Revolution announced that they close three under performing stores which were located in Swansea, Wood Street and Liverpool.

Rob Pitcher – Chief Executive Officer said:

“I am delighted with our Christmas trading and the steady improvement in our like-for-like* sales performance over the first half is further evidence that our key initiatives are driving both operational and financial improvement. Considerable strides have been made in rebuilding customer loyalty and driving sales and profit from the existing estate, creating a stronger business with significant cash generation. Whilst external cost pressures persist, we will continue to manage cautiously, using excess cash to reduce indebtedness below one times EBTIDA before we will consider further expansion opportunities”

Loungers – a competitor to keep an eye on

A competitor in the form of Loungers (LON:LGRS) is a firm to keep an eye on.

In December, the firm gave a very impressive update to the market and looked to rival established names such as Fuller Smith & Turner (LON:FSTA) who have recently struggled.

The firm posted another “another strong” set of interim results, with revenue rising over 20%, which built upon a prior update provided in the middle of 2019.

Loungers own 161 bars, cafes and restaurants across England and Wales, and are a vastly expanding brand.

For the 24 weeks to October 6, Loungers revenue climbed 22% on the year before to £79.8 million, with the pretax loss narrowing to £2.5 million from £4.3 million. On a like-for-like basis, revenue growth was 5.4%, a figure Loungers said was “sector leading”.

Loungers reported an adjusted pretax profit of £2.6 million, after a £4.3 million loss the year prior.

It is on track to open 25 new sites during its current financial year, and has a “strong” pipeline further ahead. The target is for 25 new sites to open per year.

Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) are continuing their strategic review, as the firm updated shareholders on Wednesday.

The firm announced that they would be undergoing a strategic and operational review in December, and have faced troubles over the last few weeks.

Tullow today have said that progress is being made in this review and that the firm is still looking for a CEO.

Tullow said: “The Board’s business review covering all areas of Tullow’s operations, cost-base and reporting is progressing well. The Board is confident that the outcomes will deliver significant improvements to the Group’s organisational structure, major reductions in G&A and a more efficient and effective business. Actions taken in December included the implementation of a smaller, more focused interim Executive team and initial restructuring of the next level of leadership. Since then, work has focused on simplifying the structure of the organisation and these changes will be implemented in the coming months. The next phase of the review will focus on the investment plans for each of the Group’s major assets.”

“One of the decisions already made by the Board is to align the Group’s reporting calendar to that of its E&P peers and, going forward, the Group will report its Full Year Results in March and its Half Year Result in September. The 2019 Full Year Results will be released on 12 March 2020. The new timetable will enable Tullow to report on the key outcomes of the ongoing business review in its Full Year Results and its 2019 Annual Report and Accounts.”

“The recruitment of a new Chief Executive Officer is well under way with the assistance of an executive search firm.”

A few weeks back, Tullow reset their production guidance with regards to their operations in Ghana. Initially, it guided around 87,000 barrels of oil per day for 2019, and for between 70,000 barrels and 80,000 barrels in 2020.

However, the oil firm confirmed that production in 2019 was 86,700 barrels of oil per day, and it reaffirmed the 2020 guidance, which was something for shareholders to take as a positive in what has been a hectic few weeks for the firm.

Tullow guided for revenue in 2019 of approximately $1.7 billion, gross profit of around $700 million, and capital expenditure around $490 million.

Free cash flow is seen at approximately U$850 million, with net debt falling to $2.8 billion. As of June’s end, net debt was $2.9 billion.

Tullow expects to report pre-tax impairments and exploration write-offs of $1.5 billion primarily due to a $10/bbl reduction in the Group’s long-term accounting oil price assumption to $65/bbl and a reduction in TEN 2P reserves.

Dorothy Thompson, Executive Chair, commented today:

“Tullow has ended 2019 with average production of 86,700 bopd and free cash flow generation of c.$350 million. Since our December announcement, Tullow’s senior team has been working hard on a major review focused on delivering a more efficient and effective organisation. The fundamentals of our business remain intact: recent reserves audits demonstrate that we have a solid underlying reserves and resources base in West and East Africa, our producing assets continue to generate good cash flow and we retain a high-quality exploration portfolio. The Board and senior management are confident of the long-term potential of the portfolio and see meaningful opportunities to improve operational performance, reduce our cost base, deliver sustainable free cash flow and reduce our debt.”

United Oil Deal

Yesterday, both United Oil and Gas (LON:UOG) and Tullow confirmed that they would be extending a deal in Jamaica.

The two parties have furthered talks for the Walton Morant offshore asset in Jamaica.

United holds a 20% interest in Walton, and said that the initial exploration period with Tullow has been extended to July 31 as it was due to expire at the end of this month.

Tullow on the other hand hold the remaining 80% stake, and have the ultimatum as to whether they would “drill or drop” the asset.

At the Colibiri project, United Oil have expressed interest that the joint von sure will bring an additional partner to drill in 2021.

United Oil Chief Executive Brian Larkin said: “We are very pleased with the extension that has been granted. We have seen additional interest in the licence towards the end of 2019, and this extension will allow those parties to fully evaluate this excellent opportunity.”

Chief Executive Departure and Ugandan complications

The firm had started December in a dispute over their operations in Uganda.

The Ugandan Government had been in lockdown with firms such as Total (EPA: FP) and CNOOC (HKG: 0883) over the taxes assed on Tullow’s plans to sell part of its stakes in Ugandan oil fields, however the governmental disputes seem to have progressed last week.

Pat McDade, along with exploration director Angus McCoss, said they had quit the firm. The board said it was “disappointed by the performance of Tullow’s business”.

Tullow Oil saw more than £1.05 billion wiped off their market value on December 9, which left the company only valued at £801.7 million.

Certainly, Tullow will have tried to turn around fortunes in a busy few weeks for the firm.

Shareholders of Tullow can be optimistic with the update today, however the share price has not really recovered since that hectic Monday morning.

Shares in Tullow trade at 60p (+3.15%). 15/1/20 11:15BST.

Everyman Media Group PLC (LON:EMAN) have seen their shares jump today, following an impressive update from the entertainment group.

The firm reported that it has achieved record group sales of £65 million in the annual period which ended on January 2.

This was one of many stand out figures from this mornings update, as the £65 million figure showed a 25% rise from £51.9 million reported in 2019.

The firm noted that it had looked to improve customer service and quality of product, which led to a rise in average ticket price from £11.26 to £11.37 whilst spend per head rose to £7.13 from the 2018 figure of £6.30.

Notably, the firm also expanded its share in the market to 3.1% having held a 2.5% stake in 2018 amid competition from firms such as Odeon.

Everyman also added that pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA is expected to be approximately £12.0 million, an increase of 30% year on year.

The cinema chain now operates at 33 different venues, as five new sites were opened n the final quarter of the financial year (Cardiff, Clitheroe, London Broadgate, Manchester and Wokingham).

The total number of screens now operated by the Group is 110, which again shows a rise from 84 in 2018.

With Horsham and Newcastle which were opened in the first half of the year, this brings the total number of venues opened in 2019 to seven, a record number of openings for the Group in a single year.

Since the publishing of interim results in September, the firm has agreed lease deals for three more venues (Aberdeen, Exeter and London Kings Road).

With these in place, the firm has commitments in place to open a further 12 venues by 2022, with 4 openings confirmed for 2020, consisting of Dublin, Lincoln, London Kings Road, and Plymouth.

Crispin Lilly, Chief Executive of Everyman said: “This is a solid result for the year. After record admissions in 2018, UK box-office fell by 1.9% in 2019; despite this we grew each of our key performance metrics and also increased our overall market share of the UK box-office. We remain positive on the outlook for the cinema industry, the Everyman brand and for the Company in 2020. Our teams continue to deliver great results across all areas of the business and we are well placed to deliver to expectations in 2020.”

Successful year for Everyman

In March, the firm saw its profits up on the backs of new store openings, and this seems to have translated into the impressive update we have seen today.

Revenue for the year was up 27.7% to £51.9 million, compared to £40.6 million back in 2017.

Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 38.2% to £9.2 million, an improvement from the £6.6 million reported a year ago.

During the period, Everyman Media Group said it opened five new venues, including locations in York, Glasgow and Liverpool, taking its estate to 26 sites and 84 screens as of March 12.

September Success

As mentioned previously, Everyman once again saw their profits rise when they updated the market in September.

Revenue for the six months grew 16% to £28.9 million and operating profit increased 14% to £1.6 million.

Everyman Media Group said that these were supported by increasing admissions and the amount spent on food and beverages.

Admissions were up by 9.4% to 1.5 million across the period and the cinema company experienced continued growth in average food and beverage spend, up by 13.2% to £6.95.

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 61% to £6.6 million, up from the £4.1 million figure recorded the year prior.

The Cinema Market

Rival in the cinema market Cineworld (LON:CINE) have seen a similar period of trading, however it seems that Everyman have taken the market by storm.

Just before Christmas, Cineworld announced that they would be buying Cineplex Inc (TSE:CGX), the largest cinema operator in Canada, for CAD2.8 billion.

Cineworld, said that it will pay ay CAD34 in cash for each Cineplex share. Cineplex shares closed in Toronto on December 16 at CAD24.01, giving it a market capitalization of CAD1.52 billion.

Cineworld believes the deal represents an “exciting” opportunity to enter the “stable and attractive” Canadian market. The transaction will add 165 cinemas and 1,695 screens to Cineworld, it said.

Certainly the update from Everyman will impress shareholders, as they hit the new year up and running there should be a strong sense that the group can capture more of the market with better customer service and stronger performances, like the one seen today.

Shares in Everyman Media Group PLC trade at 219p (+2.57%). 15/1/20 9:40BST.

Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) have slashed the outlook for Marks & Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) and Aston Martin (LON:AML) as both firms have seen a tough few weeks of trading.

Aston Martin

Moody’s reiterated its negative outlook on Aston Martin, downgraded the company’s corporate family rating to Caa1 from B3 and probability of default rating to Caa1-PD from B3-PD.

Moody’s also downgraded the instrument ratings of Aston Martin Capital Holdings Ltd’s senior secured notes to Caa1 from B3.

“The downgrade reflects the weak profitability and low wholesale volumes in 2019 and particularly towards the end of the year,” said Tobias Wagner, a senior analyst at Moody’s.

“Cash flow for the second half of 2019 was also significantly below Moody’s expectations resulting in a lower starting point for liquidity as the company prepares for the critical DBX production ramp up and another year of significant investment spending,” Wagner added.

The negative outlook reflects the continued challenging overall market, uncertainty regarding the company’s performance in 2020, negative free cash flow and potentially further funding needs, Moody’s said.

A stabilization of the outlook would likely require a visibly improved liquidity and progress towards a more sustainable free cash flow profile, the ratings agency concluded.

Half year loss

The slowdown in performance really started with the firm’s half year results.

At the end of July, the firm made a pre-tax loss of £78.8 million, swinging to red from the £20.8 million pre-tax profit it had made during the same period the year prior.

The warning highlighted the challenging global macro-economic environment that was impacting the business.

“As described in our trading statement on 24 July, both our retail and wholesale volumes have increased year-on-year,” Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO, said in a company statement.

Q3 Loss

Aston also reported a third quarter loss a few months back, which alerted shareholders about the performance of the firm.

Aston Martin said that, for the three months to 30 September, loss before tax amounted to £13.5 million, compared to the £3.1 million profit generated during the same period a year prior.

“Tough trading conditions, particularly in the UK and Europe, persist and whilst retail sales have grown 13% year-to-date, wholesale volumes remain under pressure,” Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group CEO, commented on the results.

“We remain pleased with the performance of DB11 and DBS Superleggera, however, the segment of the market in which Vantage competes is declining, and notwithstanding a growing market-share, Vantage demand remains weaker than our original plans,” Dr Andy Palmer continued.

January profit warning

At the start of this month, Aston Martin delivered a profit warning to shareholders which led to shares crashing.

The firm alluded to challenging trading conditions and as the firm continues to review its funding options.

The challenging trading conditions disclosed in November continued through the peak delivery period of December, Aston Martin said, resulting in lower sales, higher selling costs and lower margins.

The firm has said that 2019 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to come in at a range between £130 million and £140 million.

This would lead to a margin between 12.5% and 13.5%, where as in 2018 adjust EBITDA totaled £247 million.

The firm said that wholesales declined 7% from a year ago, and this figure was 5,809 units.

Marks and Spencer

The ratings agency revised M&S’s outlook to negative, from stable but affirmed the company’s Baa3 senior unsecured ratings, which was something to hold onto.

David Beadle, Moody’s senior credit officer and lead analyst for M&S, said: “The negative outlook reflects the risk that the company’s profitability may continue to decline, notwithstanding the strategic efforts to reposition the business for sustainable growth.”

“The latest results highlight the challenges in Clothing & Home even though it is positive to note signs of progress in Food, cost control, and the decision last year to reduce dividends,” Beadle continued.

The company has cut its first half dividend, for the six months to September 28.

Marks cut their dividend by a massive 40% to 3.9p per share, something which has troubled shareholders.

Moody’s added: “There are however several areas where there are signs of progress. For example, Food like-for-likes remain positive, in contrast to some competitors, while the company’s confirmation that full year cost savings should be towards the higher end of its previous guidance range is credit positive. Moreover, Clothing & Home’s 1.7% like-for-like decline in the third quarter represents an improvement compared to recent quarters.”

A return to a stable outlook could occur if M&S is able to post “sustained positive like-for-likes” across both units, Moody’s said.

Festive trading slips

Last week, Marks saw their shares sink over 8% following a slump in UK sales.

The FTSE 250 listed firm said that performance has seen improvements on a like for like basis, however total sales declined in its Clothing and Home sector.

Notably, the period mentioned includes the festive holidays however British supermarkets seemed to have lost ground.

In the 13 weeks period which ended December 28 the firm said that its total UK sales dipped 0.6% year on year to £2.77 billion, however on a like for like basis this was a 0.2% rise.

Total sales were 0.7% lower at £3.02 billion, and this includes its international unit which saw a 2.3% fall in sales to £251 million.

The British supermarket mainly attributed its growth in UK trading to food unit, where sales climbed 1.5% year on year to £1.7 billion. Notably in the food unit, the firm saw a 1.4% rise on a like for like time scale.

The clothes unit, which contributed heavily to a slump back in November saw sales fall again by 3.7% to £1.06 billion and on a like for like basis sales fell 1.7%.

Notably, Marks fell victim to a retail slump which was experienced by both Tesco (LON:TSCO) and Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY).

Profits plunge in November

In November, the firm reported a plunge in their profits which sent shares crashing.

Chief Executive Steve Rowe alluded to several factors which had caused the slump including blamed the 5.5% decline in like-for-like clothing sales in the first six months of its financial year on supply chain problems and buying errors that meant popular sizes quickly sold out in store and online.

M&S reported a 17% decline in pre-tax profits of £176.5 million on sales of £4.9 billion.

M&S said the store closures would reduce clothing sales by 2% rather than the 3% previously thought but warned that its profit margins would come under pressure in the second half.

After recovery was made by striking this deal with Ocado, the senior board at Marks and Spencer have other issues to attend to outside of poor business performance.

Additionally, the slump in clothing sales contributed to the poor performance in the online shopping sector where sales barely grew – an outcome it admitted was “less than planned”.

Store closures in May

In May, Marks and Spencer announced that they would be closing stores following a slip in performance in its full year results.

The retailer said that group revenue fell 3% to £10,377.3 million, compared to £10,698.2 million the year before.

Pre-tax profits fell 9.9% to £523.2 million, down from £580.9 million a year before. Meanwhile, like-for-like sales were also down 2.9%.

The company said that profits were impacted by £438.6 million in exceptional costs, including £222.1 million relating to its transformation plan.

UK Food revenue, one of the retailer’s biggest revenue drivers, fell 0.6%, with like-for-like revenue down 2.3%

Home and Clothing revenue, which has been struggling for several quarters, was down a further 2.9% largely as a result of store closures.

Looking at the performance over the last few months of both Marks and Spencer and Aston Martin, it is clear to see why Moody’s have slashed their outlook. Shareholders from both firms will be hoping that performance can be turned around in what seems to be a cut throat period of UK trading in a retail slump.