SHOP TALK: Pull the other leg?
Is the Nando's London listing rumour the same as the retail unicorn, the Nando’s 'Black Card'?
Urban myths exist in every sector. Take the January Indicator, a Wall Street chestnut devised in the 1970s by Yale Hirsch which posits that market performance in January foretells the direction stocks will take for the year. There’s the one about the mile high club. Or as legend has it — you get drunk faster at cruising altitude, and not switching off your cellphone before take-off and landing interferes with the plane’s navigation equipment. The retail unicorn then, is the Nando’s “Black Card”. Andy Murray is said to have one, as is David Beckham and even David Cameron. It grants the owner an unearned privilege of unlimited free peri-peri chicken for themselves and five friends (for life).A London flotation makes sense, there’s the access to a deeper pool of capital and the currency hedge thing, given our floppy rand. Also, a lot of Nando’s value sits in the UK. It’s a notoriously difficult market as far as food service goes.
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