Fattal Holdings (1998) Ltd. (TASE:FTAL) today reported a NIS 94.7 million net profit in the second quarter, 51% more than in the second quarter of 2017. Revenue grew 33% to NIS 854 million.
The company finished the first half of the year with NIS 1.5 billion in revenue, 41% more than in the first half of 2017, while net profit inched up 3.6% to NIS 71 million. Fattal lost money in the first quarter as a result of NIS 31 million in financing expenses.
Fattal's share price is up 3.5% in trading today, and has risen 30% since the company's IPO in February, pushing its market cap up to NIS 5.8 billion.
Fattal's report follows the company's announcement in recent days of expansion in its European portfolio. Early this week, Fattal announced an agreement to buy a hotel in Edinburgh, part of which is unoccupied and part of which will consist of a residential building, for £52 million, not including taxes. Last Thursday, the company announced that it had completed a deal for buying the entire share capital of a Dutch holding company with ownership, management, and leasing rights to 13 Apollo hotels in the Netherlands for €153 million.
David Fattal founded the Fattah hotel chain in March 1999 and owns a 63.6% stake in it. The chain holds, operates, leases, and manages hotels in Israel and Europe, in addition to acquiring and building new hotels. The chain's business currently covers 36,000 hotel rooms in 186 hotels in 17 countries.
Fattal has 40 hotels in Israel, of which it fully or partly owns 23, rents 11, and manages six. The chain currently has 146 hotels in Europe, mostly in Germany and the UK, of which it fully or partly owns 52, rents 89, and manages five.
Commenting on the company's results, Fattal director and CFO Shahar Aka said, "We are planning to continue our strategic plan for extending our business in Europe and Israel. In recent days alone, we reported the acquisition of a portfolio with 13 hotels in the Netherlands, thereby making the chain an important factor in the country and the largest hotel chain in Amsterdam. We also announced an agreement to purchase a hotel in Edinburgh that we were already renting. The company will continue full tilt to add value for our investors and partners through expansion and growth in activity in new instruments and improvement in revenue and profits."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 23, 2018
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018