David Fuller and Eoin Treacy's Comment of the Day
Category - Autonomies
S&P Europe 350 Dividend Aristocrats review
S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Review
Email of the day on clothing companies and Autonomy membership
I was wondering why Abercrombie doesn't qualify as an autonomy? The graph is basing out it seems, and in Milan while the other stores are empty (except the Ferrari store); you have to practically line up to get in and to pay at Abercrombie. / Hollister. It is the one of the favorite brands among teenagers here along with Bershka. Also, I hope you plan to alternate the audio comments between Mr. Fuller and Mr. Treacy because even though the research and conclusions are the same, the styles are different and I like to listen to both of you regularly
Cocoa Shortage Looms as Growers Opt to Farm Rubber
This article by Morgane Lapeyre for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
Cocoa shortages are poised to extend into the next decade as West African growers struggle with underachieving farms or switch to more lucrative crops, such as rubber.
As worldwide demand increases -- the average Chinese consumer eats only a little more than two candy bars’ worth of chocolate a year -- producers are considering ways to boost grower income and coax higher yields from cocoa farms in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Despite two years of shortages, prices haven’t risen enough to persuade many farmers to stick with cocoa while other crops pay more.
“Cocoa farmers are becoming more aware of the bad deal they’re getting on the cocoa value chain,” said Edward George, head of soft commodities research at Lome, Togo-based lender Ecobank Group. “It takes something quite dramatic to get a farmer who has been cultivating cocoa his entire life to tear up his cocoa plantation and switch to rubber. But you can see a trend is under way.”
Worldwide cocoa demand will outpace production again in the next season that starts Oct. 1, according to a Bloomberg survey of five analysts and traders. The deficit is expected to grow ninefold to 1 million metric tons by 2020, which would equal about one-quarter of global output if growers maintain the current rate of production, said Zurich-based Barry Callebaut AG, citing an industrywide forecast. How to satisfy global demand will be a topic discussed at the World Cocoa Conference, which starts June 9 in Amsterdam.
Sustainable Farming
Part of the problem is unrealized potential, said Damien Thouvenel, a cocoa trader for Sucres et Denrees SA, or Sucden, in Paris. Growers in Ivory Coast, which, combined with neighboring Ghana, is the source of 55 percent of the world’s cocoa, harvest an average of 400 kilograms (882 pounds) of beans per hectare (2.5 acres) while a farm that’s well-managed with fertilizers and pesticides can yield up to 1.5 tons per hectare, Thouvenel said.To address this, 12 of the world’s largest chocolate and cocoa companies, including Barry Callebaut, Ferrero SPA, Hershey Co., Mondelez International Inc., Mars Inc., Cargill Inc. and Nestle SA, signed an agreement with the Ivorian government in Abidjan on May 20 to “accelerate actions to make cocoa farming in the country sustainable,” according to a statement on the website of the World Cocoa Foundation, which will coordinate strategy.
One-Third of People Worldwide Are Obese or Overweight in Study
This article by Nicole Ostrow for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
“Since 1980, no country has made significant progress in reducing the rates of people being overweight or obese,” Christopher Murray, the study author, said in an e-mail.
“Obesity is now a major public health epidemic in both the developed and the developing world.”
Obesity can raise the risk of diabetes, osteoarthritis, heart disease and cancer, among other health-threatening conditions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Being overweight was estimated to have caused 3.4 million deaths worldwide, said Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“Countries need to be looking at how they communicate effectively both what people eat and how much they should be eating,” Murray said. “Because what we’ve been doing up until now isn’t working. Strategies to tackle obesity need to address both physical activity, total caloric intake and the different foods we eat.”
Email of the day on Crowd Money and Microsoft
“Hello, I read your book as soon as it was published and I plan on going to one of your courses in London in the fall or in 2015, in the meanwhile I practice. So, I would like an opinion on the Microsoft graph, seems like it is breaking out, so you agree? If it holds 38 / 40 dollars on monthly graph seems it will go up, I am looking at the long term graph from 1999 to today”
Sprouts Farmers Market Profit Soars; 2014 Outlook Raised
This article by Tess Stynes for the Wall Street Journal may be of interest to subscribers. Here ii is in full:
Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (SFM) said its first-quarter profit surged 86% as the specialty grocer's revenue beat expectations.
Shares rose 6.1% to $29.06 in recent after-hours trading as adjusted earnings also beat estimates and it raised its 2014 guidance.
For the year, Sprouts raised its per-share adjusted earnings estimate by a nickel and now expects 63 cents to 65 cents. The grocer also increased its projection for net sales growth by two percentage points and now expects an increase of between 18% and 20%. The company also boosted its same-store-growth estimate by 1.5 percentage point to between 8.5% and 9.5%
The competition in the organic and natural foods space has intensified, as established supermarket chains beef up their higher-end offerings and other niche players embark on expansion plans.
Phoenix-based Sprouts reported a profit of $33.7 million, or 22 cents a share, up from $15.6 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding secondary offering expenses and other items, adjusted earnings rose to 23 cents from 14 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 20 cents.
Revenue increased 26% to $722.6 million, topping the company's forecast for $720 million. Same-store sales increased 13%.
Rival Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) reported late Tuesday that fiscal second-quarter earnings were flat from a year ago, at $142 million, albeit revenue was up nearly 10% at $3.32 billion. The company also trimmed its annual sales and profit forecasts.
Nestle Challenge Grows After $5 Billion Mondelez Merger
This article by Matthew Boyle for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
For Nestle SA, life at the top of the $81 billion coffee market just got more difficult. The world’s biggest coffee maker, which derives about a fifth of its $100 billion in sales from java, faces a new number two after Mondelez International Inc. agreed to combine its coffee unit with its D.E Master Blenders 1753 BV. The new company, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, is the latest step by Master Blenders owner JAB Holding Co. to create a caffeine-fueled global powerhouse in one of the few vibrant areas of the $1 trillion food and beverage sector.
That creates headaches for Vevey, Switzerland-based Nestle, whose coffee business has slowed of late after driving revenue and margin expansion for much of the past decade. Sales growth at the unit that includes most of the coffee portfolio has halved, while the single-serve Nespresso division has lost market share to copycats in Europe and failed to make a dent in the U.S.
“Nestle now has proper competition just at a time when they’re struggling,” Jonny Forsyth, an analyst at Mintel, said in a phone interview. “They should be worried.” Nestle declined to comment on the new company.
The combination is the largest in an industry that has rapidly consolidated in the past five years, with more than 100 deals worth almost $23 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest of those deals was Master Blenders takeover by JAB last year.
Bayer to Buy Merck Consumer-Health Unit for $14.2 Billion
This article by Naomi Kresge for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
Buying the Merck unit adds the allergy medicine Claritin and Coppertone sunblock to a Bayer portfolio anchored by the iconic pain pill aspirin. Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, had 3.9 billion euros ($5.4 billion) in sales of non- prescription medicines last year, accounting for about 9.7 percent of the drug and chemical conglomerate’s revenue.
“We are strong in the over-the-counter business with Bayer aspirin and other products, so this was a great opportunity for us to strengthen the business and truly become a global leader,” Chief Executive Officer Marijn Dekkers said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Bayer ranks second in over-the-counter drugs by sales, behind Johnson & Johnson, according to a ranking compiled by the German company. After the Bayer-Merck transaction closes and Glaxo and Novartis form their venture, that venture will be the largest, followed by Bayer and then J&J, according to Bayer.