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JOHANNESBURG –Hotels operator City Lodge has restored its dividend after a three-year hiatus, with a recovering tourism industry and new focus on food and beverages helping it almost double revenue in its half-year to end-December.
Group revenue rose by 94 per cent to R848 million in the six months to end-December, the company said on Friday, reporting a profit after tax of R97.9 million from a loss of R33.8 million previously.
Occupancies improved to 57 per cent, from 30 per cent previously, with the company also benefiting from the proceeds of the sale of its East African operations in July - four hotels - of R467.2 million, with the group repaying half of a R600 million debt facility.
City Lodge, valued at R2.66 billion on the JSE, operated 59 hotels and over 7 000 rooms as the end of its 2022 year. On Friday, it declared a 5c per share interim dividend, representing about a R30.5
Cmillion payout.
It last declared a dividend for the six months to end-December 2019, about R67 million, which was just before COVID-19 struck, with the pandemic then shuttering hotels and bringing travel to a halt.
Promising
In December 2022, StatsSA reported 677 838 foreign tourists, up 158 per cent from 2021, though still below 2019’s 981
APE TOWN – While a hike to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in South Africa (SA) was needed, the 9.6 per cent increase that was ultimately implemented puts small and medium businesses in a precarious position and could be the end for many.
This is according to Attorney and National Collective Bargaining Co-ordinator for the Consolidated Employers’ Organisation (CEO), Daniel van der Merwe.
Increase
Van der Merwe said the NMW wage increase announced on February 21, 2023 has sparked concern for the sustainability and possibility for survival of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across SA.
This sector is collectively the country’s largest employer, he said, and the size of the increase has left many feeling like inputs 038. The group, however, said the trend is promising.
“We are pleased to report sustained growth in average occupancies, with the second quarter’s occupancy rates well in excess of 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew Widegger said in a statement.
“Average room rates in SA for the six months have increased by 10 per cent compared