Weak trading conditions weigh on Hospitality Property Fund
HPF's dividend shrinks 12.4% in the year to March as its hotels go through a bad trading period
Hospitality Property Fund (HPF), a subsidiary of gaming and leisure group Tsogo Sun is struggling to perform amid weak operating conditions. HPF's dividend fell as much as 12.4% in the year to March while its rental income weakened 4%, largely because of disappointing trading at its Western Cape assets. A weak economic environment prompted increased price competition in the sector during the period, with HPF saying room occupancy for its hotels declined 2.3% to 62.6%, compared with a 1.6% fall to 62.4% for the market as a whole. In the Western Cape, occupancy fell 7.8% to 61.8%. HPF, which is the only hotel specialised real estate investment trust on the JSE, slashed its final dividend by 14.29% to 64.17c per share, bringing its combined distribution for the entire period to 105.39c, from 120.29c the year before. The company which owns 53 hotel and resort properties in SA, also reported higher expenses, including R20m worth of transaction costs related to an unsuccessful casino acq...
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