City Lodge full year HEPS seen between 8% and 13% higher

Hotel group City Lodge (CLH) says it expects full-year normalised diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS) to be between 8% and 13% higher than in 2013.

Providing a trading update on Tuesday, Hotel group City Lodge (CLH) says it expects full-year normalised diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS) to be between 8% and 13% higher than in 2013.

The increase in earnings excludes a R45m gain from taking full ownership of the Fairview Hotel and the Country Lodge in Nairobi as well as the costs of the black economic empowerment (BEE) deal completed almost six years ago.

The results for the year ended June 30 are scheduled for release on August 15.

At 10.33am‚ the stock was up 1.36% at R119.40‚ valuing the hotel chain at R5.1b

Earlier this year, City Lodge said the acquisition of the remaining 50 percent in Kenya’s Fairview Hotel had become unconditional with effect from May 21 this year.

This gave City Lodge full ownership of the Fairview Hotel and this hotel will be accounted for as a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of City Lodge Hotel Group, it said at the time.

This acquisition was part of City Lodge’s initial forays into expanding into East Africa, regarded as one of the fastest-growing regions on the continent.

City Lodge is also poised to later set up shop in West Africa and other parts of Southern Africa, it emerge at the time.

In May 2012, City Lodge Group bought 50 percent of Fairview Hotel and Country Lodge in its first expansion outside South Africa. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Clifford Ross, the City Lodge’s CEO, said at the time the deal was an indication that City Lodge had strong belief in Kenya and East Africa.