Hope springs eternal in the boardroom, but the stock market is not as upbeat about the hospitality sector
It is less than two years since pub chain Marston’s, in the depth of the first Covid winter, rejected cash offers from a US private suitor at 88p, 95p and 105p a share, saying they “very significantly” undervalued the business and its prospects. Share price today: 38p.
One cannot, then, yet say the board has been vindicated by events. Post-lockdown reopening ran into cold realities of a cost-of-living squeeze, soaring energy prices, higher wage bills and rising interest rates. The entire hospitality sector continues to be valued at semi-depressed prices.
