LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
25 February 2020 - 09:49AM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
Shake Shack Forecasts Weaker Same-Store Sales For New Fiscal
Year
Shake Shack Inc. said Monday it expects growth from its fleet of
hamburger restaurants to slow down this year.
Comparable sales at Shake Shack, or those from locations open at
least two years, may decrease by the low single digits during its
2020 fiscal year.
Dine Looks to Slow Closures of Applebee's Restaurants
Dine Brands Global Inc. expects fewer closures of Applebee's
restaurants this year and said the casual-dining chain may return
to sales growth.
Applebee's has struggled to draw in diners as consumers seek out
what they perceived are healthier meals and opt for so-called fast
casual chains over traditional casual dining. As a result,
Applebee's has been shrinking in the U.S.
STORIES OF INTEREST
AB Foods Expects 1H FY 2020 Group Sales, Adjusted Operating
Profit Ahead
Primark-owner Associated British Foods PLC said Monday that it
expects sales growth for the group and adjusted operating profit
for the first half of its fiscal 2020 to be ahead of the prior
year, but that it expects adjusted earnings per share in the period
to decline.
For the six months ended Feb. 29, the U.K. food-processing and
retail company said that on a reported basis, it expects the
dilutive effect of adopting the IFRS 16 accounting method will
result in a small reduction in adjusted earnings per share.
BBQ Holdings Says Court Approves Granite City Deal
BBQ Holdings Inc. said Monday the District of Minnesota
bankruptcy court approved the company's purchase of the assets of
Granite City Food & Brewery.
BBQ Holdings, the parent company of Famous Dave's, said it
expects to close the deal March 9. The company said earlier this
month that it agreed to acquire casual dining company Granite
City.
FUTURES MARKETS
Cattle to Trade With Expanded Limits Tuesday -- Market Talk
16:34 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME will be traded at an
expanded limit of 4.5 cents per pound Tuesday, following the limit
close down 3 cents per pound early Monday. Cattle futures traded
off 2.5% at $1.1525 per pound. With coronavirus spreading globally,
managed money firms still have room to close more of their
positions on cattle. "Funds still remain long 30,000 fat cattle
contracts which gives them plenty of ammunition to sell if they
decide to keep selling," says Jeff French of Top Third Ag
Marketing. "This sell-off is nothing to do with supply or demand
but rather money-flow and money-flow with Trump fundamentals every
day of the week." Meanwhile, hog futures closed down 3.6% at 64.625
cents per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Feb 24
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Feb 24 +$ 29.93 +$ 6.80
Feb 21 +$ 25.65 +$ 4.22
Feb 20 +$ 23.93 +$ 3.34
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of
production of the animals.
Beef-O-Meter
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.
Beef
For Today Choice 94.4
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 95.3
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday rose $1.98 per hundred
pounds, to $207.07, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose
67 cents per hundred pounds, to $202.37. The total load count was
98. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.20, to $64.90 a hundred pounds,
based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 24, 2020 17:34 ET (22:34 GMT)
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