Keells Hotels trims losses both in SL and the Maldives

John Keells Hotels PLC with interests in Sri Lanka and the Maldives has sharply reduced losses in the first half of the current financial year with revenue up nearly 28% to Rs.2.4 billion and losses down 38.9% to Rs.359.2 million, an interim statement from the company indicated.

Despite losses in recent years, the company carried a revenue reserve of Rs.340.3 million in its books as at September 30, 2009.

The interim statement indicated that losses in both Sri Lanka and Maldives were down – in Sri Lanka to Rs.107.4 million from Rs.160 million a year earlier and in the Maldives to Rs.251.7 million from Rs.427.4 million during the comparative period the previous year.

Analysts expect the company to be in profit by the end of the current financial year.

The John Keells and Aitken Spence Groups are the biggest resort hotel players in Sri Lanka with significant interests in the Maldives too. While JKH has city hotel interests here, Aitken Spence manages hotel properties in India and the Oman.

Assets of John Keells Hotels in Sri Lanka were running at nearly Rs.3 billion and in the Maldives at Rs.10.3 billion with liabilities here stated at Rs.433.6 million and in the Maldives at Rs.6.7 billion.

The interim statement revealed that in June this year, the company had invested Rs.100.7 million in Yala Village (Pvt) Limited thereby increasing its effective holding to 93.8% while in July this year an investment of Rs.45.54 million had been made in Kandy Walk Inn Limited increasing its effective holding of that company to 98.4%.

Net assets per one-rupee share had grown to Rs.6.23 as at September 30, 2009 from Rs.6.05 a year earlier while the company’s share had traded at a high of Rs.23.25 and a low of Rs.6 during the six months under review. This compared to a trading range of Rs.8.25 to Rs.6.25 during the comparative period the previous year.

John Keells Holdings with 92.69% of the company is the dominant shareholder followed by the EPF with 0.63%. Other than JKH, all individual shareholders own less than one percent of the company.