PPHE Hotel Group - Cost cutting for uncertain times

The trading update, following the update on 12 March 2020, highlights the expected drop in demand due to the COVID-19 virus, and strong actions by management to cut costs and preserve cash in the uncertain environment. We leave our forecasts unchanged following our recent downgrade of EBITDA for FY20e by 14%, but now assume no dividend payment in FY20, following the cut of the proposed final dividend for FY19 of 20p. The shares are trading at a discount of 68% to the EPRA NAV, and the majority of the hotels are freehold assets.