Friday 2 November 2018

Sri Lanka’John Keells Hotels September net down 99-pct

ECONOMYNEXT – Profits at Sri Lanka's listed John Keells Hotels was down 99 percent from a year earlier to 850,000 rupees in the September 2018 quarter amidst the closure of two hotels for refurbishment and another for reconstruction, interim account showed.

Earnings per share were negligible in the quarter. For the six months to end September 2018, the company reported an 18 cent loss per share, on a loss of 262 million rupees, down 101 rupees from a year earlier, interim accounts showed.

The stock was up 20 cents to Monday to 7.90 rupees.

In the quarter, revenue was down 5 percent from a year earlier to 2.4 billion rupees and cost of sales fell a faster 18 percent to 798.2 million rupees leading to gross profits contracting 3 percent to 1.6 billion rupees.

Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon was partially closed during June-October, while Bentota Beach by Cinnamon was demolished in July 2017 for reconstruction, the company said.

Other operating income fell 93.8 percent to 6.6 million rupees.

Other operating expenses increased 25 percent to 341.6 million rupees due to the closure of Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa in the Maldives for refurbishment, the company said.

Net finance costs were 2.5 million rupees in the quarter, compared to a net finance income of 24.9 million rupees a year earlier.

Profits from Sri Lankan hotels dropped 49 percent in the September quarter to 95.3 million rupees from a year earlier, while the Maldives hotels saw losses increase by 11.3 percent to 92.3 million rupees.

While sales from Sri Lankan operations grew 2.8 percent to 1.4 billion rupees from a year earlier, sales in the Maldives arm dropped 14.7 percent to 979.8 million rupees.

Arrivals to Sri Lanka during the quarter increased 4.8 percent to 567,275 tourists from a year earlier, while in the Maldives, 353,944 foreigners visited, a growth of 4 percent.

The hotel chain's total assets increased to 34.2 billion rupees by end-September from 33.2 billion rupees at the start of the financial year, with net assets per share growing to 18.52 rupees from 18 rupees.

Long-term interest bearing borrowings fell to 2.6 billion rupees from 2.8 billion rupees over the 6 months, while short-term borrowings fell to 1.18 billion rupees from 1.22 billion rupees.

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