HK's Shangri-La Asia sinks to over 3-year low as protests hit outlook

Shangri-La Asia

22/08/2019 04:13

** Shares of Shangri-La Asia Ltd  0069.HK  fall as much as
7.5% to HK$8, their lowest since July 2016, after three
consecutive sessions of gains
    ** Hotel operator posts a 24.7% fall in first-half net
profit with revenue easing 1.7% due to weak market sentiment
caused by uncertainties arising from trade war between China and
the U.S.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN25H01O
    ** Co says it started to see a significant drop in tourist
arrivals in July amid protests in Hong Kong, while challenges
from global economic and political environment, volatility in
foreign exchange rates will put pressure for hotel businesses 
    ** Daiwa trims Shangri-La Asia's target price to HK$8.8 from
HK$9 while maintaining "hold", saying Hong Kong is the major
swing factor in 2H19 amid uncertainty of when protests will
subside
    ** Daiwa says ongoing protests in Hong Kong have reduced the
occupancy of the firm's flagship property island Shangri-La to
an estimate 50-55% in July, while August is set to be below 50%
    ** Brokerage also cited the hotel group's management as
saying there was a meaningful number of hotel booking
cancellations, while some meetings, conferences and exhibitions
have already moved elsewhere
    ** As of Wednesday's close, the stock has fallen 25.4% this
year
    ** Shangri-la Asia has underperformed the Hang Seng Commerce
& Industry Index sector  .HSNC  by 5.5 percentage points in the
past one month
    ** The Hong Kong Hang Seng Commerce & Industry Index  .HSNC 
eases 0.3%, and the benchmark index  .HSI  slides 0.6% on
Thursday

 ((Reuters Messaging:
donny.kwok.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))