PPHE say Croatian operation significantly improved performance
Companies: PPHE Hotel Group Limited
Hotel owner and operator PPHE Hotel Group put out a trading update this morning for the three months and nine months to 30 September, saying total revenue had increased 61.5% to £92.7m for Q3 and 28.1% to £204.8m for the year.
Like-for-like average room rate increased 11.5% to £113m, with occupancy levels flat at 85.6%. Reported occupancy decreased to 84% from 89%, partly due to the adoption of a rate focused strategy for several of hotels in Germany.
The company said that it had undertaken several additional corporate activities to re-shape its business during H1, and confirmed that consolidation of its Croatian operation for the first time had significantly impacted performance.
PPHE has its strongest trading period in Q4 and management hope for a strong finish to the year:
"for our operating regions, excluding the Croatian operation which is highly seasonal, and trading since 30 September 2016 has remained encouraging across the regions.
During the final quarter, in which we prepare for the launch of several new hotels, we will remain focused on revenue generation and providing exemplary service to our guests."
Management expects full-year results to be in line with its current expectations.
Broker finnCap said PPHE's RevPAR [Revenue per room] had increased 11.3% and trading since September had remained encouraging across all regions:
"Q4 is usually the strongest trading period and will this year include the preparation for the launch of several new hotels. We continue to highlight the significant gap to fair values that underpins our unchanged target price..."
Boris Ivesha, President & CEO, said he was pleased to report a good performance during the quarter, saying the acquisition in Croatia had a significant impact on the results in Q2 and Q3. He also said the company had benefitted from favourable Euro to Sterling exchange rates:
"Our new hotel Park Plaza Nuremberg has now fully opened and we are on target for a soft opening of our two new London hotels in the final quarter of 2016, as well as the completion of the extension and reconfiguration of Park Plaza Riverbank London. Our London inventory is expected to increase by over 800 rooms once these projects have been completed.
Based on our results to September and the outlook for the final quarter, the Board anticipates the full year results to be in line with its current expectations."