The renovation work is well under way at PPHE Hotel (PPH), while one-offs in the comparative period last year took the gloss off the bottom line. Looking above this, the European hotel company saw operating profit rise more than a quarter to €35m (£26m), driven mostly by the revenue per available room rising by 12.5 per cent to €120 on the back of rate rises and robust occupancy. But the owner of the Park Plaza and art'otel brands has several ongoing projects to finish before its portfolio is back to full strength.
Chief executive Boris Ivesha maintains that full-year expectations will be met because the historically stronger second half should safely offset the "temporary impact of our extensive renovation programme". The group's Park Plaza Riverbank London was impacted by construction work at the hotel as were three of its German hotels, while preparations for renovations at three of its Dutch hotels are also under way.
Net debt increased at the group level but the bulk of the €52.8m rise came from foreign-exchange rate movements, while €15.6m was capital expenditure. The debt is likely to be put towards further enlarging the group's presence, with plans for a new hotel in Nuremberg and two in London.
Analysts at broker finnCap expect full-year pre-tax profit of €38m, leading to EPS of 91¢, up from €33m and 79¢ in 2014.
| PPHE HOTEL (PPH) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 663p | MARKET VALUE: | £278m | |
| TOUCH: | 655-670p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 664p | LOW: 427p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.0% | PE RATIO: | 10 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 832¢ | NET DEBT: | 153% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 125 | 17.7 | 43 | 9.0 |
| 2015 | 141 | 14.8 | 36 | 10.0 |
| % change | +12 | -16 | -16 | +11 |
Ex-div: 10 Sep Payment: 8 Oct £1=€1.36 | ||||
