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BROKERS REMAIN BULLISH FOR INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP (IHG) 31 August 2012 CREDIT SUISSE reiterates its Outperform rating for IHG and has a target price of 1692p. 04 September 2012 MORGAN STANLEY retains its Overweight rating for IHG and sets a target price of 1850p. 07 September 2012 INVESTEC retains its BUY recommendation for IHG and also has a target price of 1850p. P.S. Here's some links about SCLP, one of the hottest stocks at the moment: http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?iid=2467508&threadid=256596&mode=2 http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?iid=2467508&threadid=255276&mode=2 http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?iid=2467508&threadid=257550&mode=2
INTERCONTINENTAL TO OPEN DUBAI MARINA HOTEL IN 2013 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world's largest hotelier by number of rooms, has signed an agreement with Dubai-based developer Select Group to open the InterContinental Dubai Marina, the firm said Sunday. The hotel, which will form part of the Bay Central development in the Marina, is scheduled to open at the end of 2013, the group said. The property will include 132-hotel rooms as well as 196-studio, one, two, three and four-bedroom residential apartments. The UK-based hotelier in May said it planned to hire between 10,000 and 15,000 staff in the Middle East as it ramps up its expansion plans in the region. The firm, which operates five brands - InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Steybridge Suites – plans to open 40 new regional properties in the next three to five years, six of which will be in the UAE, said Pascal Gauvin, COO for InterContinental Hotels Group India, Middle East and Africa. “We have 40 hotels in the pipeline in the Middle East and Africa. We have five openings this year still to come,” he told Arabian Business. IGH operates 170 hotels across more than 60 countries with an additional 58 hotels in the global development pipeline. Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/intercontinental-open-dubai-marina-hotel-472332.html
Then let Jefferies and every other quack of similar repute put its money where it's mouth it!
Jefferies has raised its target price for Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza owner InterContinental Hotels from 1,350p to 1,500p, but has retained its 'hold' recommendation for the shares due to the lack of perceived potential upside to the stock. The shares are now trading close to an all-time high, the broker said, having jumped 75% from the lows of last summer. The stock is trading at 17.6 times next year's earnings, above its long-term average. "Given the relatively rich valuation, we are struggling to see any further medium-term catalysts that could justify us being more positive on the shares," Jefferies said on Thursday.
This is the whole problem with shares and financial services, you get rewarded for being a crook across the board. Still stay out until shares collapse to 980p where they belong.
Richard Solomons, Chief Executive of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, said: "We have delivered good results in the first half with RevPAR growth from all regions through gains in both occupancy and rate. Our brands continue to perform well and we have achieved solid underlying margin growth, resulting in increased profits and strong cash flows. We are increasing the interim dividend by 31% reflecting these results, our previously stated intention to rebalance the interim and final dividend payments and our confidence in the future prospects of the business. Consistent with our asset light strategy and our strong track record of returning funds to shareholders, we today announce a $1bn return of capital. This recognises the expected proceeds from the ongoing disposal of InterContinental New York Barclay and our commitment to maintaining an investment grade credit rating. We continue to invest for growth, strengthening both our existing and our new brands, including EVEN Hotels and HUALUXE Hotels & Resorts. While the global economic environment remains uncertain, IHG continues to trade well and we are confident that our strategy will deliver high quality growth into the future."
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208070700074272J
Investors in InterContinental Hotels, which is reeling from a price-fixing investigation, hope for better news this week with City analysts betting they may be on track for a $1.5bn (£960m) bonus. That is the amount they could get via extra dividend payments and share buybacks, a move that might also keep activist investor Nelson Peltz happy. The US fund manager recently took a 4.27% stake in IHG. One source of cash is the sale of the flagship New York Barclay hotel, progess on which is expected at the group's half-year results on Tuesday. Last week, the Office of Fair Trading found Holiday Inn-owner IHG had colluded with Booking.com and Expedia to limit discounts. The firms said they did nothing wrong and will challenge the findings, The Independent on Sunday writes.
How can this possibly be going up? This company is about to be fined for corruption. The banks fall, so why not this? There is something definitely fishy going on here. My buy in price 990 pence. Then it is a good investment. Until then, avoid.
Holiday Inns operator InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has disagreed with the findings of an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation which criticised the hotel group's arrangements with two online booking agents. In the OFT's view, the deals IHG struck with online travel agents Booking.com and Expedia in relation to "room only" accommodation broke competition rules. IHG begs to differ, saying its considers its arrangements with the online booking agents to be "compliant with competition laws and consistent with the long-standing approach of the global hotel industry." The OFT's Statement of Objections says: "The OFT considers that the alleged infringements are, by their nature, anti-competitive in that they could limit price competition between online travel agents and increase barriers to entry and expansion for online travel agents that may seek to gain market share by offering discounts to consumers." IHG said it is cooperating fully with the OFT's investigation, which commenced in 2010 after the OFT received a complaint from a small online travel agent, which alleged it was being prevented by various hotel chains from offering discounted sale prices for room-only hotel accommodation. The "Statement of Objections" covers the OFT's provisional findings only. All parties will now have the opportunity to respond to the statement before the OFT decides if competition law has in fact been infringed. OFT chief executive Clive Maxwell said: "We want people to benefit fully from being able to shop around online and get a better deal from discounters that are prepared to share their commission with customers."
Shares of InterContinental Hotels (IHG) were taken down a peg on Thursday after US peer Marriott scaled back its international revenue per available room (RevPAR) guidance; nevertheless, Investec has stayed positive on the British hotels firm, keeps its 'buy' rating and 1,700p target price. "Sceptics of the global hotels recovery had a field day following the Marriott Q2 results on 11 July. In our view, they are wrong. Marriott is forecasting group RevPAR growth of 6-8% in 2012. This alone places our FY12E estimates for IHG (47% exposed to the US) under severe upside pressure," the broker said.
Shore Capital retained its "sell" stance on Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), noting that the shares are trading at record highs and a prospective 2012 earnings multiple of 18 times. The broker said that the proceeds of the sale of the firm's New York Barclay hotel for 200 million pounds will be returned to shareholders. However, Shore believes that any value added to shareholders will be offset by the ensuing 10 million dollar (6.4 million pound) decline in annual profits. The shares grew by 16p to 1,564p.
How the deuce do these cretins manage to come up with such precise numbers as 1692, 1521...? Any rational scientist of the caliber of Einstein, Dirac, Heisenberg, Planck, etc would round up these numbers to 1700, 1520 etc. It just illustrates how utterly crass this entire game of broker-analysts is. I would have me a donkey give better precision than these City clogs.
INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS IS HIGHEST QUALITY BUSINESS IN EUROPEAN HOTEL SECTOR, SAYS BROKER Holiday Inn operator InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) is Credit Suisse’s top pick in the European hotel sector and it has upgraded the company to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’. The Swiss banking firm also raised the target price for the world's largest hotels group (measured by number of rooms) to 1,692 pence from 1,521 pence, which implies 14 per cent potential upside to yesterday’s closing price of 1,481 pence. The broker said: “We view IHG as the highest quality business in the European hotel sector given its high and rising returns (2012E ROIC [return on invested capital] 25%) driven by a capital-light predominantly managed and franchised model.” The broker reckons the company’s geographic exposure makes it an attractive proposition for investors, with 84 per cent of earnings last year generated in the US and emerging markets. This sustained growth momentum in those areas is the main factor behind the broker’s 7 per cent rise in earnings estimates for 2012-13. “[We] also flag the increasing potential for a meaningful EPS impact as the balance sheet is put to work,” the broker added. Credit Suisse believes the company is undervalued, especially compared to rival Marriott, whose share price has outperformed InterContinental by around 6 per cent since mid-January. Source: http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/42254/intercontinental-hotels-is-highest-quality-business-in-european-hotel-sector-says-broker-42254.html P.S. Here's a couple of links about SCLP, one of the hottest stocks at the moment: http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?threadid=252803 http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?threadid=253089
Trade Summary Dream Scenario: The Americas and China growth adds to the obvious Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics attractions ensuring a strong summer for Intercontinental Hotels.
Nightmare Scenario: The recent May peak above 1,500p for the shares already prices in the positive fundamentals at the hotels group.
Key Technicals Shares in Intercontinental Group have maintained persistent support at and above their 50-day moving average now at 1,459p, following a brief early bear trap below 1,400p. The likelihood now is that while support remains above the 50 day line, the shares should go on to retest the intraday high of the year to date at 1,544p.
Those looking for a stock to benefit from the Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics will no doubt already be looking at Intercontinental Hotels Group. But as reported in the recent Q1 results, IHG has much more to offer, with the impressive growth in the Americas and China looking more and more appealing to risk-averse blue chip stock buyers in the current climate. Shares are rated a buy at Galvan Research.
Latest Fundamentals On May 9th, hotels group Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) reported solid revenue per available room, RevPAR, growth in the first quarter of 2012, helped by an increase in rates and occupancy, as well as strong performances in the Americas and China. The Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn owner, which has 4,500 hotels in its portfolio, said that total revenue rose 3% from $396m to $409m in the three months to March 31st, up 4% at constant exchange rates (CERs). Meanwhile, Group RevPAR grew by 7.0%, driven by strong growth in the Americas (up 7.7%) and Greater China (11.9%). Increases in Europe and Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) were more subdued (up 2.6% and 6.9%, respectively).
Credit Suisse upgrades InterContinental Hotels from neutral to outperform, target price raised from 1521p to 1692p.
Shore Capital kept its "sell" recommendation for InterContinental Hotels (IHG), noting speculation that the firm was planning to sell its Barkley Hotel in New York for 200 million pounds. The broker believes that most of the proceeds will be returned to shareholders through a special dividend but remains concerned over the firm's high historic earnings multiple of around 20 times
InterContinental Hotels Group Sell 05-Mar-12 £289,279.99 Kirk Kinsell 20,000 @ 1,446.40p
InterContinental Hotels Group Buy 22-Feb-12 £63,836.35 Dale F. Morrison 4,536 @ 1,407.33p
UBS has maintained its sell rating for Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) following the firm's full-year results on Tuesday. The firm said that the disposal of the InterContinental Barclay hotel in New York is still ongoing, but UBS thinks that without this, a special dividend may not materialise. "A refurb has already started, perhaps suggesting hopes for a sale near-term are fading," the broker said.
Nomura raises target from 1,404p to 1,424p, neutral rating maintained.