PPHE Hotel Group enjoys strong first-half in Europe

11th Aug 2015 13:41

(ShareCast News) - Shares in PPHE Hotel Group rose on Tuesday after the hotel operator said it expects to post first-half revenues ahead of last year.Thanks to improved occupancy and room rates in some countries in Europe, the company expects to report revenues for the six months ended 30 June to be 12% higher year-on-year to €140m.The company said its occupancy and room rates improved in its hotels in the Netherlands, Germany and Hungary, driving revenues up 9%.The group's UK hotels contributed in revenues by 1% on a constant currency basis and 14% in euro denominated revenues due to sterling's strength against the euro, which is the firm's reporting currency.Looking ahead, PPHE forecasts its trading for the second half of the year to be ahead of previous expectations as the delay of planned refurbishment works, originally scheduled to be carried out on a number of hotels in 2015, means they will now take place during 2016.President and chief executive Boris Ivesha said: "We are pleased to announce that as a result of strong trading during the first half and the significant progress against our strategy we expect our half year results to be ahead of the board's expectations."Shares in PPHE rose 5.25% to 651.5p on Tuesday at 1356 BST.