Directors dealings: Dalata chief expands his holdings

Dalata Hotel Group´s chief, Patrick McCann, picked up a hefty amount of shares in the hotel group on 6 October, the company said in a statement.

On 6 September, the firm reported that revenues for the six months ended 30 June jumped by a third to €130.1m, when compared with the same period of last year, generating profits before tax of €18.2m. Sales per available room increased significantly, by 11.2% to €74.90.

McCann bought 25,000 shares at €4.20 apiece for a total consideration of €96,127.43.

In a research note dated 27 July, analysts at Berenberg initiated its coverage of the stock at 'buy', setting a target price of 410p, despite the company having put its expansion plans into regional UK cities on hold before Brexit.

Dalata has a decentralised business model, with hotel managers given autonomy over day-to-day decisions. This enables each hotel to more easily adapt its rate strategy and has helped the company to outperform the market comfortably. The Irish hotel market has been very strong over recent years and, notwithstanding the risks from Brexit, we expect it to remain supportive. Thus we estimate Dalata will generate double-digit RevPAR growth in both Dublin and regional Ireland this year, with solid growth continuing further out.

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