Mauritius-based luxury hotel group Sun Resorts saw its loss before tax swell to Rs 118.49 million for the half-year ended June 30, 2014 against Rs 112.53 million in the corresponding period of 2013, even as quarterly loss narrowed to Rs 143.02 million against Rs 251.05 million in the same quarter last year.

The financial statement showed that the group revenue for the 6 months ended 30 June 2014 rose 0.4% to Rs 2.00 billion, against Rs 1.99 billion in the corresponding half year period in 2013.

However, revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 climbed 11% to Rs 915.19 million against Rs 771.28 million achieved in the corresponding quarter of 2013, following an increase in occupancy from 56.0% in the corresponding quarter of 2013 to 59.6% in this quarter.

Additionally, this resulted in an improvement in the operating loss by Rs 100 million to Rs 62 million for the three months ended 30 June 2014 compared to the corresponding quarter in the year-ago period.

Besides, management mentioned that apart from hospitality revenues and profits, the results for the quarter and half year ended 30 June 2014 also consolidate real estate sales relating to IHS rooms at Long Beach.

The board noted that after experiencing a difficult first quarter, the group achieved vastly improved results in comparison to the same quarter last year.

For the half-year ended 30 June 2014, the loss after tax increased marginally to Rs 98.79 million against Rs 92.34 million last year, while for the latest quarter, the group loss after tax came to Rs 120.96 million against Rs 212.61 million in the same quarter last year, representing an improvement of 43.11%.

“All our resorts showed improvement against the prior year as the group was able to capitalise on its new sales and marketing structure and its pricing strategy,” the board noted.

During this quarter, Mauritius registered a growth of 10.5% in its tourist arrivals against the same quarter last year with the Easter period falling in the second quarter this year, whilst it overlapped March and April in 2013.

Moreover, tourism statistics for Maldives where Sun has presence also showed a 13.5% growth in footfalls over last year.

Hence, these positive factors created a more favourable trading environment for the Sun Resorts hotels in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, transactions for 26% participation by Shangri-La in Le Touessrok are nearing a close and are expected to be concluded shortly, noted the board.

The board additionally noted that discussions concerning the proposed acquisition of 50% of Anahita Hotel Ltd (Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita) are in progress.

Also, the board has approved a rights issue of 33.33 million new ordinary shares, to rank pari passu (with equal rights and obligations) in all respects as the existing ordinary shares.

Each shareholder will be entitled to 0.355361 new ordinary shares for every one ordinary share held, rounded to the lowest integer when fractions occur, for a consideration of Rs 36.00 per new ordinary share, payable in one full instalment.

And, subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities and shareholders, it is expected that the rights issue subscription period will be completed by November 2014.

Ultimately, with the encouraging progression seen in the second quarter, the management expects improved results in the next quarter over the corresponding quarter of the prior year as the third quarter is traditionally the most difficult quarter for the industry.

Image (Long Beach, Sun Resorts): However, overall loss before tax for the half-year ended 30 June 2014 increased marginally to Rs 118.49 million for the half-year ended June 30, 2014 against Rs 112.53 million in the corresponding period of 2013.

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