Some travel and tourism groups think the recent heatwave and football World Cup discouraged holidaymakers this summer, but chief financial officer Daniel Kos says he's seen quite the opposite at PPHE Hotel Group (PPH). He believes the warm weather encouraged more 'staycations' across the UK, while Croatia’s advance in the World Cup led to higher hotel bookings there. The reported period doesn't include peak summer months, but normalised pre-tax profits rose 62.4 per cent to £5.1m.
Profit growth was driven by a 4.1 per cent increase in room sales to £103m, with revenue per available room (RevPAR) up 2.9 per cent to £86, and occupancy rates 2.7 percentage points higher at 74.9 per cent. All this despite a 0.9 per cent contraction in average room rates to £114.40, too. Most regions performed well, apart from the Netherlands, which was affected by the partial closure of Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam.
Analysts at FinnCap expect pre-tax profits of £39.7m during 2018, giving EPS of 71.3p, compared with £32.1m and 58.4p in 2017.
| PPHE HOTEL GROUP (PPH) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,510p | MARKET VALUE: | £639m | |
| TOUCH: | 1,500-1,520p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,550p | LOW: 984p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.9% | PE RATIO: | 17 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 842p | NET DEBT: | 104% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 142 | 3.4 | 9.0 | 11.0 |
| 2018 | 149 | 16.4 | 42.0 | 16.0 |
| % change | +5 | +385 | +367 | +45 |
| Ex-div: | 20 Sep | |||
| Payment: | 15 Oct |
