STAKIS chief executive David Michels took a long time to answer when asked what worried him most at present, and eventually confessed he could think of nothing. Certainly, he would seem to have nothing but opportunities, with all three activities, hotels, casinos and health clubs gaining market share through individual offerings and formats that have widespread appeal.
These are excellent times for the hotel industry, with occupancy rates both in London and the rest of the UK at record levels and achieved room rates showing a decided upward movement, with Michels indicating that occupancy for the full year for the group could approach 80%.
The worry is always the next downturn in the hotel cycle, but that seems still to be somewhere beyond the horizon.
There has also been some recovery in casinos, where Stakis appears to be getting the better of Stanley Leisure when the two are face to face, with the ill-judged decision to charge guests admission fees now largely forgotten.
However, with the further relaxation of the industry and granting of new licences perhaps another couple of years away, growth in that division will be slower and be based upon the return on investment rather than acquisition or new openings combined with further cost cutting.
That will be assisted by the surprisingly hefty spend of #10m on information technology over the next 18 months.
The shares have begun to move ahead quite reasonably in the past few months, after a prolonged period of torpor, as the potential benefits of the #90m expansion to the London Metropole filtered into the market - that investment is worth at least 30% of the group market capitalisation of #980m, and as such is very much a trophy asset that will have a high profile on the London hotel scene.
With the new management structure now in place the only concern is possibly that Michels may want an even bigger challenge in due course. However, the shares seem set fair.
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