It’s been a busy few days around the hospitality industry: here’s a quick round-up of some of the headlines:
- LDC backs £50m buyout of D & D – see our report click here
- Drake & Morgan buyout proceeds with Bowmark – see our report click here
- Menzies Hotels: Lloyds banking Group is said to be looking to sell, having acquired the hotels as part of the HBOS deal five years ago. The asking price is likely to be around £100m, as Lloyds continues to move hotel assets on: it sold the Mint hotel group back in 2011 for £600 million; Principal Hayley more recently; and is also a major lender to De Vere Group, which has just announced that it is looking to sell De Vere Venues for a rumoured £300 million.
- Pret a Manger: has announced its results for 2012, showing profits up from £52.4 million to £61.1 million, on sales up 17% from £377 million top £443 million.
Pret is owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint, and now has 323 stores, mainly in the UK but now with 11 in the USA, 2 in Hong Kong – and the 2 in Paris are reported to be performing exceptionally well.
Pret has started this financial year strongly, despite the continuing economic uncertainty, and expects store openings this year to result in between 500 and 1000 new jobs in the UK and elsewhere.
- Rocco Forte Collection: The Sunday Times reports that Sir Rocco Forte is considering plans to sell the Lowry Hotel in Manchester and the Balmoral in Edinburgh, realising up to £100 million but continuing to run both. The Rocco Forte Collection lost £9.3 million in the year to April 2012, and has recently ceased running the Augustine in Prague.
- The Savoy, London: made an unsurprising loss of nearly £50 million in its first operating year (to December 2011) after interest payments of £56 million exceeded operating profits. The hotel, which is run by Fairmont Group, underwent extensive refurbishment that took three years and exceeded original budget when structural problems were discovered and had to be rectified.
It is understood that the hotel has recently been refinanced, though this will not affect 2012 results (when available).