Unique Hotel’s July-March revenue falls 67%
In the January-March quarter, its revenue fell by 45% to Tk22.59 crore
Unique Hotel and Resorts Ltd – the owner of Westin Dhaka, a five-star hotel – has reported a 67% drop in revenue in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Also, in the January-March quarter, its revenue fell by 45% to Tk22.59 crore, compared to the same period of the previous year.
"Business is dull due to coronavirus. Though the hotel is open, there is not much activity now. However, the restaurants of the hotel are open and the food items are being sold online," said an official, seeking anonymity.
Due to a lower revenue, the company fell into losses from profit in the same period of the previous year.
At the end of the July-March period, its revenue stood at Tk50.39 crore, and the net loss per share was Tk0.19.
In the fiscal year 2019-20, the company's profit was down 54%, compared to the previous fiscal year. Still, it paid a 10% cash dividend to the shareholders for the last fiscal year.
Unique Hotel and Resorts got listed on the stock market in 2012. At the time, the company collected Tk195 crore by issuing shares with a face value of Tk10 along with a Tk65 premium on each share.
On Sunday, the closing price of each share of the company was Tk34 at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
Besides, the company's board has decided to sell and transfer land worth Tk94.48 crore to its subsidiary Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited in exchange for 9.44 crore preference shares of Tk10 each in the name of Unique Hotel.
In April, a Qatar-based investment company, Nebras Power Investment Management BV, declared to buy an 11.76% stake worth Tk205 crore in Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited from its owner, Unique Hotel.
Unique Meghnaghat Power is a subsidiary of Unique Hotel and Resorts, which owns 65.01% shares of the plant. Out of this stake, it will sell 11.76% to the Qatar-based investment company.
In this regard, Unique Hotel and Resorts signed an agreement with the Qatar-based global power development and investment company on 17 April.
As per the agreement, Nebras Power Investment will buy 14,641 shares of the gas-based power plant from Unique Hotel at a face value of Tk10 each. Nebras Power will pay Tk205 crore in four phases for these shares, including a premium.
Nebras Power is to buy a total of 24% stake of Unique Meghnaghat Power. It will buy the rest of the stake from another partner, Strategic Finance Limited of Unique Meghnaghat. The total deal value is around Tk415 crore.
