Special Dividend

RNS Number : 0969E

PPHE Hotel Group Limited

13 July 2016

 

13 July 2016

PPHE Hotel Group Limited

Special Dividend

PPHE Hotel Group Limited (the "Company"), which together with its subsidiaries (the "Group") owns, leases, develops, operates and franchises full service upscale and lifestyle hotels in major gateway cities and regional centres, predominantly in Europe, is pleased to report that the Board of Directors has approved the return of a total of £42,197,512 to shareholders of the Company ("Shareholders") by way of payment of a special interim dividend of £1.00 per ordinary share (the "Special Dividend"). This follows the Group's hotel refinancings in the second quarter at an aggregate of £563.7 million, following which the Group now has excess cash reserves some of which it wishes to return to Shareholders via the Special Dividend and which is in line with the Group's primary objective to create and realise shareholder value.

The Special Dividend will be paid on 23 August 2016 to Shareholders on the register as at 22 July 2016. The shares of the Company will go ex-dividend on 21 July 2016.

The Special Dividend is separate to the interim and final dividends typically paid by the Company. The Group intends to follow its progressive dividend policy going forward. Any future dividend declaration or recommendation remains subject to Board's approval.

Boris Ivesha, President & Chief Executive Officer of PPHE Hotel Group Limited, commented:

"We have seen excellent progress against our strategy in recent years. The recent refinancings enable us to continue investing in our portfolio ensuring our well-established hotels continue to improve on their strong market positions.

In line with our objective of delivering excellent shareholder value we are delighted to be able to return excess reserves to shareholders as we continue to generate long-term value."

The information contained in this announcement is considered to be inside information prior to its release.

Enquiries:

PPHE Hotel Group Limited
Chen Moravsky, Deputy Chief Executive Officer & Chief Financial Officer	Tel: [phone]
Hudson Sandler Financial Public Relations
Wendy Baker / Katie Matthews	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors

PPHE Hotel Group Limited is a Guernsey registered company and through its subsidiaries, jointly controlled entities and associates, owns, leases, operates, franchises and develops full service upscale and lifestyle hotels in major gateway cities and regional centres, predominantly in Europe.

The majority of the Group's hotels operate under two distinct brands, Park Plaza^® Hotels & Resorts and art'otel^®. The Group has an exclusive licence from Carlson, a global privately held hospitality and travel company, to develop and operate Park Plaza^® Hotels & Resorts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The art'otel^® brand is fully owned by the Group.

The Group also owns a controlling interest in the Arenaturist group, one of Croatia's leading hospitality companies.

The portfolio of owned, leased, managed and franchised hotels comprises 38 hotels in operation offering a total of nearly 8,400 rooms. The development pipeline includes four new hotel projects and one hotel extension and reconfiguration. These developments are expected to add over 800 rooms to our portfolio by the end of 2016 and an additional 500 rooms by the end of 2019.

Our Company:
www.pphe.com

Our Hotel Brands:
www.parkplaza.com
www.artotels.com
www.arenaturist.com

For images and logos visit www.vfmii.com/parkplaza

Forward-looking statements

This announcement may contain certain "forward-looking statements' which reflect the Company's and/or the Directors' current views with respect to financial performance, business strategy and future plans, both with respect to the Group and the sectors and industries in which the Group operates. Statements which include the words "expects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "projects", "anticipates", "will", "targets", "aims", "may", "would", "could", "continue" and similar statements are of a future or forward-looking nature. All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause the Group's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect the Group's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Group's operations, results of operations and growth strategy. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Subject to any legal or regulatory obligations, the Company undertakes no obligation publicly to update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Group or individuals acting on behalf of the Group are expressly qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. Nothing in this announcement should be considered as a profit forecast.

 

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