Weekly Restaurant Stock Update

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Houston’s refuses to submit to NYC law; challenging in court

California-based restaurant chain Houston’s doesn’t like New York City’s calorie labeling law, and it has refused to submit to it, setting the stage for a battle with city health officials.
With more than 30 restaurants across the country, including two in Manhattan, the upscale chain falls under the city’s definition of a company required to include caloric information on its menus here. But diners won’t find calories listed anywhere at either of the restaurants, on East 53rd Street and Third Avenue and East 27th Street and Park Avenue South.

Read more:
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090816/FREE/908159995

Lack of finance could stifle restaurant industry recovery

A survey of members of the British Hospitality Association's National Restaurants Group, and conducted by the accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward, reveals that over one-third of businesses believe there will be slight growth in both 2009 and 2010 while a similar number believes there will be strong growth in 2010.

The survey warns, however, that growth in the future will be curtailed if finance is not made more readily available. This is widely considered to be one of the most inhibiting factors to restaurant expansion.
Read more:
http://www.costsectorcatering.co.uk/online_article/lack-of-finance-could-stifle-restaurant-industry-recovery/8369

Chain Restaurants Q2 Earnings: What's Going on?

Most of the chain restaurant earnings for the quarter are now in, but it will be interesting to watch Burger King (BKC) on August 25. This quarter, virtually all companies beat analysts estimates based on commodity and other cost structure reductions, all of which essentially fall 100% through to the bottom line.
So beating projections on cost decreases is good but should be no surprise in this sector right now.

Read more:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/156468-chain-restaurants-q2-earnings-what-s-going-on?source=yahoo

Alternative Hotel Group in debt talks with Lloyds

The company behind some of Britain’s most prestigious hotels is set to open talks about a restructuring of its £1.4 billion debt pile.
Alternative Hotel Group, which owns properties such as Cameron House in Scotland and Slaley Hall in Northumberland through its De Vere chain, is to begin negotiations with its lender Lloyds Banking Group after the bank appointed Deloitte to carry out an independent review of the business.

Read more:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article6797711.ece

Dubai Holding to Focus on Four Businesses

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai Holding LLC, a diversified group owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin RashidAl Maktoum, plans to focus on four businesses, including property and hospitality, as part of a restructuring.

Read more;
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601206&sid=aC7phLh7NeIY

2011 Latin America Pipeline: 132 Hotels, 23,693 Rooms

Lodging Econometrics (LE) has compiled and released its first 2011 Forecast for New Hotel Openings in Latin America, projected to be 132 hotels/23,693 rooms. Adjusted for the global recession, LE has made further downward revisions to its forecasts for 2009 and 2010.Still, Latin America remains in the midst of a four-year New Openings surge that began in 2008. 151 new hotels/26,204 rooms are expected to open in 2010, a cyclical high for room counts. The 2009 forecast calls for 220 new hotels/20,754 rooms to come online, of which 73 hotels/10,678 rooms opened in Q1-Q2.

Read more:
http://www.hotelsmag.com/article/ca6676859.html

NPC International, Inc. Reports Second Fiscal Quarter 2009 Earnings

OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS, (AUGUST 14, 2009) - NPC International, Inc. (the "Company"), today reported results for its second fiscal quarter and year-to-date period ended June 30, 2009.
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS:
-Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations (reconciliation attached) of $25.6MM exceeded the prior year by $6.4MM or 33.1%.
Income from continuing operations of $3.4MM was $2.3MM greater than the $1.1MM recorded last year.
-Debt declined $12.1MM from the first quarter to $438.7MM and our Leverage Ratio remained largely the same as our first quarter at 3.83X Consolidated EBITDA, as defined in our credit agreement.
-Comparable store sales from continuing operations declined -12.6% rolling over an increase of +7.2% last year.

Read more:
http://www.npcinternational.com/investors/financial_report/66

Restaurant Marketing: iPhone Revolutionizing Restaurant Marketing

Restaurant Marketing: The iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones are revolutionizing restaurant marketing and the way guests find restaurants. Specific dining “apps” have been developed that that can be downloaded onto smartphones that are either exclusive to specific chains or exclusive to specific food categories. Most apps feature location-based technology. For the user, they provide instant information just with the tap of your finger. For the restaurants, they get in front of the millions who are depending on their smartphones for instant dining information.

Read more:
http://www.restaurantmarketingblog.com/index.php/weblog/restaurant_marketing_iphone_revolutionizing_restaurant_marketing/

Analyst increases Las Vegas Sands price target

NEW YORK -- An analyst boosted Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s price target Friday after the casino operator reworked a credit agreement so that it could potentially sell a minority stake in its Macau operations to raise cash.
Thursday, the Sheldon Adelson-led Las Vegas Sands said the amended Macau facility would improve its financial flexibility.

Read more:
http://www.newsobserver.com/1566/story/1647242.html

Hotel's rooms for 1p blunder costs thousands

It was an offer to lure even the most committed "staycationer" away from UK shores: a two-night stay at a four-star hotel near Venice for €0.01, or less than a penny.
Rooms at the Crown Plaza Venice East Quarto D'Altino normally cost between £90 and £150 a night, so when the deeply discounted rate started appearing on travel websites it prompted a sudden flurry of reservations.

Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/14/crown-hotel-venice-promotion-error

Unpaid debt leads to $1 million lawsuit in Turks and Caicos

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands -- On July 24, Condé Nast Publications, a leading publishing company that is home to numerous magazines and websites, filed a lawsuit in a New York District Court seeking to recover more than one million dollars in unpaid advertising, attorney’s fees, and interest from the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board. According to the court papers, the TCI Tourist Board failed to pay for advertising that appeared in 2007 and 2008 issues of W magazine, Elegant Bride, and Vanity Fair, as well as ads in the 2007 Fashion Rocks.

Read more:
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/turks/turks.php?news_id=18047&start=0&category_id=37

Las Vegas Hilton’s earnings tumble in second quarter

The decline in visitation to Las Vegas this spring hurt business at the Las Vegas Hilton, which sustained a loss for the second quarter ended June 30.
The 3,174-room Paradise Road property is owned by affiliates of Los Angeles investment group Colony Capital and other investors.
It lost $10.552 million during the June quarter vs. a profit in the year-ago period of $3.394 million, a regulatory filing showed Thursday.
Revenue declined from $75.5 million to $45.2 million.

Read more:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/aug/13/hiltons-earnings-tumble-second-quarter/

Renaissance Syracuse Hotel faces foreclosure

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The downtown Renaissance Syracuse Hotel, a 20-story landmark that was reborn in 2003 following a $19 million renovation, has fallen on hard times. The 279-room hotel is under the control of a court-appointed receiver while the hotel's mortgage lender pursues foreclosure.
The recession, and a resulting drop in room occupancy, are largely to blame, according to Hypo Real Estate Capital Corp., a German-owned lender that holds the $28 million mortgage on the hotel.

Read more:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/syracuse_renaissance_hotel_fac.html

Brighton the worst of UK's 'poor value' hotels

To anyone with a little experience of the world, it will hardly come as a surprise: British hotels are poor value compared to their international counterparts.

While it may not be something that anyone working outside the UK hotel trade needed empirical evidence to confirm, a survey by online outfit hotel.info has found that UK establishments fare badly on value for many ratings compared to dozens of cities worldwide.

Read more:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=489582