TPS Eastern Africa Plc, which trades as the Serena Hotels has marginally trimmed its half year loss to Ksh.557.3 million from a wider loss of Ksh.641 million.
The slight improvement from a greater loss is largely attributable to a Ksh.60.3 million gain represented by (Forex) savings on foreign currency loans as the shilling rebounded in the first half of 2021.
The hotel chains primary business remained flat in the period with revenue from contracts with customers unchanged at Ksh.1.1 billion, a reflection of the COVID-19 impact on the hospitality industry in the country.
TPS has however seen its net interest costs rise by 29 per cent to Ksh.137.7 million while depreciation was up 36.2 per cent at Ksh.332.4 million.
The chain which was temporarily shut between April and June last year nevertheless says the half year performance is not a reflection of its expected second half performance as it preempts a recovery in earnings.
“The final performance for the first half of 2021 should not be taken as a basis for extrapolating a full year’s forecast,” TPS said in a trading statement on Thursday.
“Given the pent-up demand in regional and international travel, the outlook for the second half of the year remains cautiously optimistic. The major challenge continues to be the inability to predict the immediate, short and medium term business outlook as the situation keeps evolving.”
TPS’s projected occupancy from international source markets indicate a better outlook this year than in 2020 across its operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda but remain well below pre-pandemic levels.
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