Whitbread Share Discussion Threads

[porsche1945] 19/6/2019 20:37

Share buybacks a total waste of time, Terry Smith said that ages ago and they are, they seem to add nothing (this money from coke seems to be evaporating) companies usually buy them back at the wrong time too, just give us the dosh back as a special dividend, right now, we actually want the cash.

[porsche1945] 19/6/2019 20:30

@tong, good point, itv, imperial, two others with wretched performance and useless female ceo's, alison brittan looks like a bloke tho....ex lloyds, another terminal uk investment. Whitbread should have flogged the hotels and kept the coffee, uk heading for brexit meltdown, hotels will be empty but the masses will still want a coffee fix and danish.

[tongostl] 19/6/2019 19:57

Never invest in a business with a female CEO, unless you don't mind wealth destruction that is.

[abbotslynn] 19/6/2019 18:14

Target price will easily be reached.

[zeppo] 19/6/2019 18:09

Sadly out.

Felt let down after various cash backs then share consolidations.

The share price was at £55.00, possible ahead of itself, some time ago.

The current share price does not reflect buy backs IMHO.

[scobak] 19/6/2019 17:34

Just return the cash please. Be fair to the shareholders.

[philanderer] 19/6/2019 14:01

FT Alphaville..

L4L group sales weaken to -3.7% in Q1 from -0.6% in Q4.

BE
But that's where the consensus was already, so the most you'll see is a slight tightening of the range.

BE
And there's a £2bn tender offer and buyback, offering any shareholders who want out a ready buyer. So, it's dead money for the moment.

Canaccord.....

Whitbread's valuation is under-pinned by c£5bn of freehold assets and a good defensive earnings track record. Potential buyers could include InterContinental Hotels and Marriott or private equity.

[bountyhunter] 19/6/2019 13:56

I was thinking CSE ;-)

[ygor705] 19/6/2019 13:39

It seems to me that if you are sitting in the Whitbread Head Office with all the latest numbers in front of you, the calculation of this year's eps should be a pretty simple affair. The goal is clearly for management to buy 2.5 billion quids worth of shares in the market as cheaply as they can, drive up this year's eps number and collect a handsome bonus for doing something that anybody with O level maths could work out. Unless the share price reacts to this complete artifice or shareholders go on strike I'm struggling to see where we will benefit.

[philanderer] 19/6/2019 09:57

errrrrrrrrr....


According to analyst Michael Hewson of CMC Markets, Premier Inn would do well to boost its occupancy rates, which currently stand at 74.8%.

"This appears to be the area that the Premier Inn needs to work on the most," he said.

"The business is adding new rooms at a time when they are barely filling 75% of their current capacity, and this needs to change to effectively claw back the investment, not only in the UK, but Germany as well, where the company is looking to add over 2,000 new rooms, when occupancy rates are at similar levels."

[essentialinvestor] 19/6/2019 09:55

Hi Phil, bid speculation holding this up I reckon. Those numbers don't make
pretty reading.

[philanderer] 19/6/2019 09:53

Morning EI.

WTB although down still one of my better ones this morning, most are getting slaughtered :-O


Liberum reiterating 'hold'

[essentialinvestor] 19/6/2019 09:50

Analysts now referencing Airbnb, about time they woke up to this threat,
still underestimated imv.

[jeffian] 18/6/2019 22:54

"Whitbread completed the repurchase of £500mln shares in April and unveiled plans to return up to £2bn of cash to shareholders in the second phase of its buyback programme a day after its first quarter update."

You might as well pile it up and set fire to it for all the good it will do shareholders. Unless I've got my decimal points wrong, £2bn is about £11/share. Where is it? I haven't seen mine yet!

[philanderer] 18/6/2019 18:10

Preview:

Whitbread investors hope to rest easy on Premier Inn
On the corporate front, Whitbread’s first quarter results will be closely scrutinised for the performance of its Premier Inn hotels business after selling its Costa Coffee chain to Coca Cola last year.

In the final quarter of 2018, UK like-for-like accommodation sales fell 3.2% with Whitbread blaming Brexit uncertainty for bringing down the amount businesses spent on putting up employees in hotels and for reducing leisure spend among consumers.

Whitbread had said that there was a “further weakening in market demand” since the start of the new financial year, particularly in regions where Premier Inn’s hotels are located.

Since completing the £3.8bn sale of Costa in January, the company has been investing in the expansion of the Premier Inn chain with plans to open 3,000-4,000 rooms in the UK this year.

It has also used some of the proceeds from the sale to buy back shares.

Whitbread completed the repurchase of £500mln shares in April and unveiled plans to return up to £2bn of cash to shareholders in the second phase of its buyback programme a day after its first quarter update.

For that first quarter, Numis expects Whitbread to report a 6% decline in revenue per available room and a 2% drop in food and beverage sales from its restaurants and pubs including Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Table and Thyme.


proactiveinvestors.co.uk

[philanderer] 14/6/2019 09:54

Q1 trading update next wednesday

[philanderer] 13/6/2019 17:48

13th june UBS neutral tp 5000p up from 4800p

[philanderer] 11/6/2019 00:14

:-)

'The smallest Premier Inn yet is opening in Coventry - with just THREE rooms'

[lukmanpatel] 10/6/2019 06:35

Another troll by the username lsehotdealz haha, share price is stagnant and there’s talks of fundraise at 10p on that board lol desperation has lead to going round posting on different board to prevent share price from dropping, usually ud stay quiet and average down and accumulate if you see huge potential lmaoo he’s spamming all the boards and a newly registered today as a member lol

[zeppo] 03/6/2019 08:13

The motive for not giving a straightforward cash distribution or simply a massive share buy back is puzzling and needs to be explained.

Share buy backs so far have not resulted in any significant rise.

A few years ago this share was much higher.

Over the years we have (twice?) had cash returned before share consolidations.

Generally we have been worse off by these machinations.

eg For those who like shareholder perks their shares which originally qualified for shareholder perks could be rendered ineligible for shareholder perks after consolidation.

My own remaining holding has been reduced by 66% after the Costa sale but I retained more than enough for the remaining perk: free breakfast at a Premier Inn.

On recently attempting to book a Premier Inn ,for July 2019, well over a month ahead, I was quoted £105.25 per night. I booked four nights elsewhere.

It seems as if the remaining shareholder perk of a 'free breakfast' could be being nullified by charging shareholders top whack for the room. Without going through the shareholder booking line (booking directly online) I could have got the room £26 per night cheaper.

Obviously this is no longer a major investment for me but one reason for keeping any at all seems to have vanished.

Perhaps they simply want to kick out private shareholders to reduce the shareholder register.

[scobak] 02/6/2019 20:37

So why the hell can't they give a pro rata amount of cash to the shareholders.
Now that is simple..... and if they want a share buy back then do so by retaining that proportion of cash.
You will note that as a shareholder I am saying 'they' rather than 'we' as I feel that as a shareholder that I must be a lesser being.

Is anyone at all other than the B.O.D. in favour of the planned scheme. Please don't be shy.

[sharw] 01/6/2019 19:49

The answer to your questions is here:

[jeffian] 01/6/2019 19:49

"Remaining shareholders get a bigger slice of the cake so eps goes up.

Simples"

Well it would be simple if the share price could be manipulated to reflect the equivalent gain in EPS/NAV but Mr. Market has a horrible habit of not doing what he's told. I hate share buybacks. They only "return cash" to those shareholders who sell....and aren't shareholders any more! £2bn of hard cash and the chances are that your shares will be worth exactly the same or less. Of course, many/most Directors' incentive schemes use improvements in EPS/NAV as a Key Performance Indicator for their bonuses. Heaven forbid that could have anything to do with their fondness for blowing your cash in this way.