There’s no question that the global tourism industry is picking up as the pandemic fades into history. There’s also no question that China is about a year behind the rest of the world in its tourism recovery due to its later easing of Covid restrictions.
Both of those elements are blended into the latest announcement from Fosun Tourism Group (1992.HK), whose upside profit alert pumped up its stock by nearly 13% last Friday. But a closer look at the numbers shows the stock is playing a catch-up game, as investors start to regain confidence in this company that still lags most of its peers in terms of earnings multiples.
It was never going to be easy for Fosun, one of China’s biggest private conglomerates, when it purchased the Club Med resort chain in 2015 and later added some other assets to create Fosun Tourism, which listed separately in 2018. That’s because the chain, which accounts for the big majority 90% of Fosun Tourism’s business, was a relative laggard at the time of the acquisition.