Shareholders in Dalata Hotel (DAL) can now expect a regular dividend now the hotel group has announced a maiden half-year payout of 3¢ (2.7p). Deputy chief executive Dermot Crowley said the group would aim to pay out between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of after-tax profits hereafter, having grown profit after tax by 8 per cent to €30.5m during the first half.
The company has also revealed an agreement to lease a 276 room hotel in Manchester city centre. With this, Dalata has added 1,070 rooms to its development pipeline since February, and is hoping to reach 1,200 by the full year. Mr Crowley said the UK hotel market is fragmented, with a number of smaller operators making it ripe for consolidation.
Those rooms that are open have performed well. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up 7.1 per cent to €89.39 on the back of a 4.6 per cent higher average room rate of €108.88, with occupancy up 190 basis points from 80.2 per cent to 82.1 per cent.
Analysts at Investec expect pre-tax profit of €86.5m during 2018, giving EPS of 40.2¢, compared with €77.3m and 36.9¢ in 2017.
| DALATA HOTEL (DAL) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 618p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.14bn | |
| TOUCH: | 601-622p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 650p | LOW: 450p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.4% | PE RATIO: | 18 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 446¢* | NET DEBT: | 34% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2017 | 163 | 32.7 | 15.5 | nil |
| 2018 | 181 | 35.4 | 16.6 | 3.0 |
| % change | +11 | +8 | +7 | - |
| Ex-div: | 13 Sep | |||
| Payment: | 12 Oct | |||
| *Includes €1.12bn of intangible assets, or 606¢ a share £1=€1.11 | ||||
