The market is concerned about a potential jump in lease expenses upon the 20-year lease renewal at The Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok Hotel, now being negotiated. (ERW has been renewing the lease on a year-to-year basis since it expired in 2021). We believe this is already reflected in hotel operations via a jump in annual lease expense booked – which can be offset by rising ARR. ERW’s share price fell 3% yesterday, trading at 23x 2024PE, below its historical average (38x) and the median of hotel stocks (31x). We assign a three-month tactical call of OUTPERFORM with end-2024 TP of Bt6.2/share. News: On July 10, 2024, local market daily Than Hoon reported that the Ministry of Finance, through the State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO), has told the Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises Limited (100% owned by the Ministry of Finance) to maximize the value of the asset, The Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok Hotel, where the lease renewal is now being negotiated.
Lease detail. The Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok Hotel is 73.64% held by ERW and 26.36% by the Syndicate of Thai Hotels and Tourists Enterprises Limited (which owns the land and hotel building), with ERW as the lessee operating the hotel. This hotel is ERW’s key property, accounting for 15-20% of its revenue. The 30-year lease ended in July 2021, and ERW has first rights to extend the lease of the land and building for another 20 years. The 20-year renewal is being negotiated and until then, ERW has been renewing the lease on a year-to-year basis.
Our view. The news has led to market concerns about a potential jump in lease expenses after the contract is renewed. However, we believe the jump is already factored into the hotel's operations. By our estimate, the hotel's current annual lease expense is ~Bt100mn, far above the ~Bt14mn in 2021 (the last year of the 30-year lease contract). While the lease contract renewal will no doubt raise lease expenses, our sensitivity analysis suggests that a 10% increase in lease expense could be offset by a 1% increase in ARR at The Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok Hotel. We believe ERW is capable of achieving this, given the hotel's high occupancy rate of ~80% in 2023 and via renovations.
Earnings forecast maintained. We expect ERW’s core profit in 2Q24 at Bt142mn, up 7% YoY but down 51% QoQ on seasonality. Key driver is 3-5-star hotel segment, where we estimate Revpar will grow 5% YoY (but drop 14% QoQ) backed by an ARR increase of 6% YoY (but a 9% QoQ drop) and strong occupancy rate at 80%. For 2024, we maintain our core earnings forecast of Bt873mn in 2024 (+17% YoY).
Risks are: 1) an economic slowdown that would derail travel demand, 2) political uncertainty and 3) cost inflation that would damage profitability. We see ESG risk as effective environmental management (E).
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