PPHE Hotel Group (PPH) - best known for the Park Plaza brand - goes from strength to strength. A bullish pre-close trading update had brokers scrambling to upgrade their profit forecasts by over 20 per cent. Sales growth last year was 19 per cent, thanks both to the Olympics in London and full ownership of three hotels in Holland in which it used to hold stakes.
Strip out these acquisitions and like-for-like sales growth was 12 per cent. That was driven entirely by the average room rate which was nearly 10 per cent higher at $131 (£82) a night. Encouragingly, the company's hotels also performed well in the final quarter, with occupancy gains propelling a 7 per cent increase in revenue per available room - the key operating statistic for hotel owners. The star performer remains the new Park Plaza in the middle of Westminster Bridge roundabout.
That suggests the tough comparatives arising from London 2012 may not be impossible to beat this year. Following upgrades, broker Investec expects pre-tax profits of €21.7m (£18.5m) this year, giving adjusted EPS of 49¢.
