Elegant Hotels' newest acquisition drives revenue and profit growth

8th May 2019 14:00

(Sharecast News) - Elegant Hotels on Wednesday reported an increase in interim profit and revenue following an "encouraging performance" from Treasure Beach, the group's most recently acquired property.The Barbados focused hotel operator recorded a profit before tax of $12.0m for the six month period ended 31 March, an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year, as revenue climbed 3% to $43.7m and cost of sales dropped by 4% to $16.4m.The AIM traded company attributed the increase in revenue to the encouraging performance at Treasure Beach, which was acquired in May 2017, revenue per room also crept up from $362 to $364 and overall occupancy grew by one percentage point to 68% following targeted discounting.These increases offset a drop in average daily rates, which were down 1% at $532 as reduced rates at Turtle Beach and Treasure Beach offset modest rate increases at most of the company's other properties.Sunil Chatrani, chief executive of Elegant Hotels, said: "Elegant Hotels continues to perform well in the context of a competitive market and against a backdrop of ongoing uncertainty in its core visitor market of the UK. We are particularly pleased with the contribution during the period of our most recently acquired property, Treasure Beach, and are constantly assessing a range of opportunities for further expansion, whilst ensuring our balance sheet remains robust."Cash and cash equivalents stood at $2.1m at the end of the period, down from $2.1m at the same point the year before, while the interim dividend remained unchanged at 1.33p per share."We continue to execute our strategy in a measured and consistent manner, and we have good visibility of bookings for the remainder of the financial year. As a result, we remain comfortable with the FY19 outlook versus market expectations and confident in the group's longer-term prospects," said Chatrani.Elegant Hotels Group's shares were up 2.17% at 70.50p at 1343 BST.