IX.CONCLUSION
Our analysis shows that NH Hoteles is in a good financial position. It has made commitments to cut costs and reduce debt both by using the increased cash flow from operations as well as ceasing new acquisitions. This makes an already healthy balance sheet even stronger, a good hedge in an uncertain market.
The Hotel industry specific ratios, Occupancy rate and RevPAR are also in line with other industry players. While a higher rate would be preferable, these ratios show operational competency if not brilliance, and will certainly improve if the company's strategic cost cutting goals are realized.
The performance of the share price and related ratios do not reflect the strength of the financials. While NH is performing at about the same levels as the other chains, it's P/E ratio is about 50% that of Accor, the next lowest rate. We believe that this is due to the relatively small size of NH Hoteles and it's focus on Europe as its core market. We also believe that these are important factors considering recent economic and industry trends, and will continue to hold down the NH share price compared to its larger and better-diversified competitors.
However, the combination of financial solidity and stock price underperformance makes NH Hoteles an excellent acquisition target. We would consider purchasing the stock on this basis alone; however additional analysis would be necessary to ascertain what premium, if any, would be paid for control of NH Hoteles.
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