Investing.com -- Shares of Dalata Hotel Group (IR:DHG) were down on Wednesday after the company reported its first half results, which came in slightly lower than market expectations.
At 5:32 am (0932 GMT), Dalata Hotel Group was trading 4.4% lower at €4.160.
Dalata reported total sales of about €302 million for the first half of 2024, which was below the market consensus of €309 million.
Although this represented a 6% year-on-year increase from the €284 million reported in the previous year, the miss relative to estimates suggests that the company's growth momentum has been slightly weaker than anticipated.
Adjusted EBITDA for the period was around €108 million, slightly below the consensus estimate of €110 million. This also fell short of the company’s guidance, which indicated EBITDA would be at least €105 million.
“Trading has been softer than we expected of late and there is a return to a more measured domestic customer spending behaviour in Ireland and the UK,” said Dalata Hotel Group’s chief executive, Dermot Crowley.
Net income came in at about €36 million, missing the consensus estimate of €40 million. The shortfall was due to higher-than-forecast depreciation and adjusting items, including an impairment charge of around €3 million.
Dalata updated its trading performance for July and August 2024, reporting that like-for-like RevPAR was 1% above 2023 levels.
“Demand is strong from corporate and international but domestic softer except around events,” said analysts from UBS in a note.