NHL Panthers Owner Wayne Huizenga will improve his
upscale hotels during the next year "to boost Florida
Panthers Holdings' (FPH) sagging stock," according to Alan
Snel of the Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL. At FPH's annual
meeting on Tuesday, Huizenga told 350 shareholders that
"improving hotel amenities and building new rooms" at the
company's six resorts "should help boost" the value of
shares that closed yesterday at $10.13. The stock hit its
52-week high of $22.88 in March. He noted that the
company's management owns 30% of the stock. He also said
that the Panthers are "expected to turn a profit" for the
first time in their six year history after moving into their
new arena, the National Car Rental Center. Huizenga said
the Panthers are "expected to split off into their own
public company, apart from the hotel operations" during the
next two years (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 11/18).
Huizenga questioned Wall Street's reaction to FPH: "Let's
add it up: Our company has a positive trend line and a solid
financial performance. With these attributes, why doesn't
the price of our shares reflect these business realities?
What is the rationale for Wall Street's lack of support?"
He said that Wall Street "is lumping" the company with other
publicly-held hotel and resort companies. Goodman notes
that the company's assets include "more than" 1,000 acres of
real estate (Cindy Krishcher Goodman, MIAMI HERALD, 11/18).
