LOS ANGELES Despite the general hue and cry emanating from industry circles over perceived public-market undervaluation of hotel stocks, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP s Bjorn Hanson maintained lodging stocks have largely earned their current market-valuation levels.
PWC s national industry chairman for hospitality told a mid-afternoon audience at the Meet The Money 2001 hotel investment conference here May 3 that hotel stocks may well be accurately although poorly priced, primarily because industrywide occupancy levels are still holding below the average of the past 20 years and, in fact, actual occupancy declines resurfaced during the first quarter of 2001.
Additionally, Hanson noted that overall industry profit growth has slowed measurably, investment returns for lodging REITs and C-Corps have tumbled, and hotel defaults have begun to rise. (5/4/01) Michael Billig