Transcorp Hotels Plc has announced a profit after tax of N4b at its 3rd Annual General Meeting which took place at Transcorp Hilton Abuja. At the meeting, the Shareholders of Transcorp Hotels Plc commended the management and staff of the Company for recording a strong financial and operational performance in the financial year ended 31st December 2016, with improvements across all indices despite the economic recession which took a hefty toll on hospitality businesses generally.
The
Shareholders gave the commendation at the 3rd Annual General Meeting of
the Company held at Transcorp Hilton Abuja on Wednesday March
15, 2017, attributing the feat to the quality of Transcorp Hilton Hotel
as the leading hospitality destination in Nigeria. They also described
the management of the Company as visionary and dedicated, as
demonstrated by the Hotel’s constantly improving quality
of service.
The
Shareholders unanimously approved the Board’s recommendation of a final
dividend of 40 kobo per share, stating that they are confident
that as the Company continues to make progress, it will not relent in
meeting their expectations.
Speaking
on behalf of shareholders, Mr. Boniface Okezie, Chairman, Progressive
Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), expressed appreciation
to the Company’s Board and Management for paying dividend at a period
when the country’s economy is in dire straits, leading to significant
drop in hotel occupancy. He said, “At a time when a lot of companies
prefer to cut dividend with a ready excuse in the
current state of the economy, we are delighted that our Company has
paid dividend which will go a long way in meeting our financial needs".
Also
speaking, AlhajiMuktarMuktar, President, Trusted Shareholders
Association, commended Transcorp Hotels for what he termed "a stellar
financial performance" amid a challenging period and the dividend
payout which he said was equally laudable. According to Muktar,
Transcorp Hotels has not relented on its oars and has continued to shine
brightly delivering world class service to an ever growing
clientele of top notch guests across the world. Little wonder it has
consistently won numerous awards and most recently bagged a long list of
honours in 2016 that will make even its competitors go green with envy.
“We are proud of this achievement and encourage
the MD and the Board to continue in this direction”. At this point, the
shareholders gave a standing ovation to the MD/ CEO for not just
winning the Seven Stars 2016 CEO of the Year at a global event, but for
also leading Transcorp Hilton to win the Seven
Stars Seal of Excellence Award for the first time.
Earlier,
Chairman of the Company, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor explained to
shareholders that the strong performance recorded by the Company is
because the Company continued to re-invent its offerings, in keeping
with service excellence. He noted that the Company was relentless in
maintaining market leadership in its flagship property, closing the year
with an occupancy of 60%, well ahead of competition. This
according to him ensured Transcorp Hotels delivered a resilient
performance even in the face of the impact of economic recession on the
hospitality industry which has seen occupancy for large hotels dropping
below 35%.
“2016
was a year of notable achievements for Transcorp Hotels Plc, despite
the strong economic headwinds. The upgrade of Transcorp Hilton
Abuja is underway in line with our commitment to stakeholders to build
Africa’s choice hospitality assets”, Emerhor said.
He
noted that, in validation of Transcorp Hilton Abuja as the prime hotel
property in Abuja, the Hotel won numerous awards in 2016 and for
the fourth year in a row emerged the proud recipient of five
prestigious awards at the 23rd
World Travel Awards; the laurels include Africa’s Leading Business
Hotel; Nigeria’s Leading Business
Hotel, Nigeria’s Leading Hotel and Nigeria’s Leading Hotel Suite (the
Presidential Suite). The World Travel Award is recognized globally as
the hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which
others aspire. The Hotel also went on to clinch
the 2016 TripAdvisor Travellers’Choice Awards and the 2016 Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle awards, Emerhor said.
In his
review of the 2016 results, the Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer of Transcorp Hotels Plc, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo said that
the Company recorded a 10 percent growth in gross revenue at N15.31bn
as against N13.98bn in 2015. This according to him was largely driven
by key events including visits by very high profile guests, many foreign
heads of government and representatives of
consulates. All this he said was due to aggressive business
development.
He
said the Company recorded a Profit Before Tax of N5.24bn in 2016,
maintaining 2015 performance of N5.38bn while the Profit After Tax
for the year surpassed 2015 performance of N3.5bn by 17 percent to
N4.10bn in 2016. "Our major priority now is creating value for our
stakeholders, improving customer service for our guests and maximizing
shareholder value, and we believe very strongly that
the foundation that we are laying, with the current upgrade and
refurbishment of the Transcorp Hilton Abuja and repositioning of
Transcorp Hotels Calabar, is certain to yield very positive results.” He
said.
“On
this premise, I am happy to add that our turnaround initiatives for
Transcorp Hotels Calabar are equally paying off as the Hotel recorded
laudable profit for the first time since 2012”. This development, he
explained, was predicated on strategy of increasing occupancy and
proactive cost management" Ozigbo stated.
Speaking on 2017 prospects, Mr.
Ozigbo maintained that the Company will keep up with the tempo to
sustain the financial performance
in 2017, despite the impacts of the temporary airport closure. He also
confirmed that the Company is on track to deliver on the ongoing upgrade
of Transcorp Hilton Abuja as preparations get on for the 30th
anniversary of the Hotel in the 2nd quarter of this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment