Morgan Stanley upgrades Sweden's Scandic Hotels on strong Q4, buyback

Scandic Hotels AB

20/02/2025 11:21

** Morgan Stanley upgrades Sweden's Scandic Hotels Group
 SHOTE.ST  to "equal-weight" from "underweight", raises target
price by 30% to SEK 83  ($7.77)
    ** Morgan Stanley says the company's Q4 margin was better
than expected (+160 basis points) and profits were well ahead of
the brokerage's forecast 
    ** Scandic Hotels Group announced another share buyback with
potentially more to come given the low leverage, and has
revealed accelerating expansion plans, brokerage says
    ** Moreover, the company has various new technology/loyalty
levers to improve occupancy, it says
    ** The brokerage says the company sounded "reasonably
confident" about long-term market performance in the Nordics,
and expects business and intercontinental travel to improve 
    ** Out of seven analysts that cover the stock, three rate it
"strong buy" or "buy", three rate it "hold", and one rates
"sell"
 


($1 = 10.6858 Swedish crowns)

 (Reporting by Marta Frąckowiak)
 ((marta.frackowiak@thomsonreuters.com))