Pphe Hotel Regulatory News (PPH)

31 Jan 2008 07:01

Park Plaza Hotels Limited31 January 2008 31 January 2008 Park Plaza Hotels Limited ("Park Plaza") Trading Update Park Plaza Hotels Limited, the owner and/or operator of four-star deluxe andtrendy boutique hotels in Europe and the Middle East, is pleased to provide thefollowing update on trading for the year ended 31 December 2007. Hotel revenue growth for the year grew by approximately 10.2%. Demand for hotelrooms remained strong, with increased occupancy and improved average room ratesresulting in Group RevPAR for the year of Euro 97.1, an increase of 6.1% overthe previous year. In the UK, which contributes approximately 42% of total Group hotel revenues,our hotels achieved RevPAR of Euro 144.6 for the full year, a 13.7% increaseover the previous year, reflecting a continuation of the positive trendsreported in the first half. This strong result was delivered despite an adverseimpact in the second half from the weakness of sterling, which depreciated invalue against the Euro by 8.3% between 30 June and 31 December 2007. In the last quarter of 2007, the hospitality sector in London in general startedshowing signs of slowing because of general uncertainty in the economicenvironment. As a result, the Group's conferencing and banqueting business,which accounts for over a quarter of the Group's UK revenue, experienced aslower rate of corporate bookings than anticipated in the importantpre-Christmas period. In The Netherlands, our hotels achieved RevPAR of Euro 112.5 for the year, an8.4% increase over the previous year, driven primarily by an increase in averageroom rate of 6.8%. The German and Hungarian markets continued to be challenging, with the Berlinmarket in particular remaining highly competitive. RevPAR for the year was Euro51.7, down 1% over the previous year. The Group has taken a number of steps toaddress these issues and expects the benefits to start to flow through in 2008. Park Plaza continues to develop its pipeline of committed project and franchiseagreements in order to achieve its goal of doubling the number of hotel rooms inits portfolio by the end of 2010. In December 2007, Park Plaza announced that it had signed franchise agreementsfor two new hotels in Doha (Qatar), which has opened January 2008 and Marrakech(Morocco), due to open mid 2009 which will add a total of 281 rooms to the Groupportfolio. Park Plaza County Hall (London) will open on 1 February 2008. Park Plaza will announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December2007 on 27 March 2008. www.parkplazahotels.net Enquiries: Park Plaza Hotels Tel: +44 (0)20 7034 4800Boris Ivesha - CEOChen Moravsky - CFO Hudson Sandler Tel: +44 (0)20 7796 4133Jessica Rouleau / Wendy Baker Notes to Editors Park Plaza Hotels is owner, operator and franchisor of hotels in Europe and theMiddle East. The Company operates under two brands: Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts(part of Carlson Hotels Worldwide), over which the Company has exclusive rightsin 56 countries in EMEA and art'otel, a brand to which the Company has worldwiderights. Park Plaza Hotels also manage the luxury all-suite Plaza on the River -Club and Residence, London. There are currently 24 properties and 4,128 rooms in the porfolio. By 2010, theCompany's committed projects and territorial franchise agreements are expectedto add a further 1,843 and 2,210 rooms respectively, bringing the total numberof rooms to 8,181. The company is dedicated to providing a highly competitive offering to hotelinvestors and operators. Through its partnership with Carlson Hotels Worldwide,the company is connected to powerful loyalty programmes such as goldpointsplussm and Look To Book(R) and a worldwide distribution network of travel agentsand websites all capable of delivering high volumes of business to its hotels.Strong sales, marketing, IT and operations led from three regional offices inAmsterdam, Berlin and London complete the package. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange