The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes place tomorrow with guest speakers from WS Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.
Yeah good stuff, not sure why the SP is down today after some strong buying again. I notice the spread has widened again. I haven't heard from Katie, I imagine she is busy there seems to be a lot going on behind the scenes. Still, not very good investor relations.
It looks like the selling has stopped. I think the two big trades yesterday were both buys straight from Action Group to an II. Lets see this back where it belongs in the mid 70s...before results!
I have emailed Katie, will let you know if and when she replies.
Yes OK will email her on Monday and feedback with the reply. Will ask a few more questions while I am at it.
The fall in the price of oil could actually benefit rather than hinder Middle East hotels operator Action Hotels (AHCG:AIM) as companies in the region look to reduce the cost of business trips. The £86.4 million cap is exploiting the undersupplied three and four star hotel market in the Middle East by facilitating the expansion of brands like Premier Inn, Ibis and Holiday Inn. Countries in the Middle East haven’t changed the level of oil they’re producing so demand for professionals – and hence hotel rooms – is still strong but there are signs businesses are trading down from five star hotels to more affordable ones. Action, whose customer base is 70% business travellers, says one of its biggest clients since the recession is KPMG. It says businesses like the fact that the hotel brands are well-known and provide consistent quality at an affordable price. There is also a growing middle class in the Middle East which is driving inter-regional leisure travel. ‘I do not see short-term fluctuations in oil price changing this and remember we are talking about affordable hotels not luxury ones,’ says Guy Hewett, analyst at FinnCap. Even if demand does fall Action only needs to achieve an occupancy level of 35% to break even because its operating costs are very low. In the first half of 2014 its average occupancy was 82% with revenue per available room (RevPAR) of $90, up 9% on a like-for-like basis. The Middle East as a whole is achieving the highest global RevPAR growth of 7.3%. Action has long-term growth aspirations with a target of 5,000 rooms by 2020. It currently has 1,474 rooms across six Ibis hotels, one Holiday Inn and one Premier Inn in the Middle East and Melbourne, Australia. By the end of 2017 it will have a further eight hotels, including a 368-room Ibis hotel in Brisbane. The hotels take just 12 months on average to build and their brands drive occupancy from day one. Of the six hotels currently in operation, five broke even in their first month of opening. Action made a loss before tax of $0.4 million in 2013 and it’s forecast to break even in 2014 and then make a profit of $2.9 million in 2015. It has an attractive prospective dividend yield of 3% and claims it can double earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation over the next 18 months. At 57.5p Action offers long-term upside from the undersupplied branded midscale hotel market in the Middle East.
Jay, when was that trade and are these trades showing up or are the Dark trades ? It sounds like dilution to me. The SP keeps dropping and new shares keep appearing. Not good.
Yes I have been saying the same thing. Official / prelim results and notice of divi should see it rerate.
FK, yes I was thinking the same. either a matched trade or maybe a roll over with the charges coming out of the number of shares? I would have seen a dip in SP if they were both sells. Either way I wish the SP would tick back up again....seems too low to me.
Yes Jay, it is moving on extremely low volumes so should move quick if we get positive news and a few new PIs.
No worries Jay, been a bit quite in here recently. Thanks for the info, I think the SP should start to build back up now. It certainly feels too low. Would love to buy more now but have to sell first.
Not been on for a while as travelling with work but I see I have missed very little. I am really surprised this has dropped so low without a decent bounce. Where did you get the info about Action group releasing shares onto the market last month? Seems that this will only move again when the prelim results are released in April...what are you thoughts? Also, do you have any info on pipeline openings. I think the next will be September?
Thanks for the info Jay, I had not seen the Norges Bank increase. It seems to me if Action Holdings wanted to make the stock more liquid as you suggested earlier then they should not be selling direct into the II as they tend to hold the stock long term. If it a large amount of stock is sold into the market it is going to reduce the SP for a while no matter who gets hold of it. Everything stays the same however, wait for the results to come out. If they are better than expected then the SP should move up. The only issue I have with this share is I cannot ever see it being a take over target due to the connects with Royal family and property ownership rules. Long term I think it needs looking at as growth plus income share and from all I know it should be a winner.
Blakeney LLP now own over 14% of AHCG. Specialist fund for developing middle east and African investments. Increase investment from 9.7% to over 14%.
What is going on here......huge trades. Jaysleno says Action group have released shares. Makes sense, but the bid and ask have been all over the place this morning.
Had to buy in two lots. 1500 at 58p and 1000 at 58p couldn't get a price for anything over 1500 shares
cant buy !! was quoted 58p now cant get a price
http://www.shareprophets.com/views/10183/action-hotels-expect-a-no-reason-statement-soon
Just tried to book a room and now getting rates for opening night of 25th January. Let the cash start to flow...
Lovely ! Really does look like a quality property. Nice one Jay. I am hoping for strong results added to the updated NAV. The two new hotels should add significantly to the balance sheet and NAV and we should see a rerating. If the results are also strong we may see another increase in the final dividend.
The hotel was completed and soft opened last year, during this period the staff training is finalised and the guests that stay there are effectively doing a trial run of the room and facilities. It is expected that the full rates will kick in from next week. What is the key factor here is that as the hotel was ‘complete’ which means that when it is revalued for the 2014 balance sheet, the hotel will be valued as a completed and ‘operating’ hotel and hence we are expecting a material increase on the balance sheet regarding this asset’s value. This is the same for the Premier Inn Sharjah. We are planning to announce results in line with last year’s timetable and I will make sure that you receive any press releases or RNS. I will also get Jessica to send you a election of recent press articles. Kind regards