Cape Town - South African hotel, gaming and entertainment
group, Tsogo Sun says it expects to complete the building of its 125 room Stay
Easy hotel in Maputo in the current financial year for $16 million as it is buoyed
by a 6 percent rise in profits for the year ended March.
The company says, on top of adding to its African
footprint, it will also be on the prowl for international acquisitions in the
year ahead
“The acquisition of additional hotel properties by
International Hotel Properties Limited, which currently owns nine hotels in the
United Kingdom, is anticipated in the future and the group may apply additional
capital in this regard,” says the company.
The group’s total income for the period under review
increased by 8 percent to R13 billion, driven largely by a 2 percent increase
in its gaming business and an 11 percent surge in rooms revenue. The
group grew its adjusted headline earnings per share by 6 percent in the
period to 207.6 cents. Tsogo declared a total dividend of 104 cents, up 6
percent from the comparative period
The company suffered a R38 million forex loss in its
offshore business. However this was offset by a strong 11 percent growth
of its earnings before interest, income tax, depreciation, amortisation,
property rentals, long-term incentives and exceptional items, which rose to R5 billion
in the period
The company says cash generated from operations for the
year improved by 9 percent compared to the previous period to R4.8 billion.
Read also: PICS: Tsogo Sun's R700m city hotel to open in September
Net finance costs increased by 34 percent due to the
increase in net debt, while taxation paid reduced by 5 percent-the group
attributed this to refunds it has received from the South African Revenue
Service in the period.
The group says it is well positioned to weather the weak
economy and policy uncertainty from government in areas like visa regulation to
gaming taxes.
“The group remains highly cash generative and is
confident in achieving attractive returns from the growth strategy once the
macro-economic environment improves,” the company says.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE
For more on this, pick up a copy of Business Report tomorrow.