LONDON (Alliance News) - Peel Hotels PLC Wednesday reported a lower pretax profit in the first half of its financial year as the prior year made a gain that was not repeated and it was hit by higher administration costs, but revenue grew.
The British hotel company said that its pretax profit in the 28 weeks ended August 16 fell to GBP497,429 from GBP555,419 the year before, even though revenue rose to GBP9 million from GBP8.6 million. Revenue per available room increased 7.1%, while occupancy rose 3.5% and the average room rate also was up 3.5%.
Peel Hotels said that despite the increase in revenue, profit was hit by higher administration expenses, as well as the fact that the first half of the prior year benefited from a change in fair value of a swap of GBP159,061.
"Improvement continues, however cost pressures, both payroll and operating expenses, have to an extent nullified the excellent growth achieved in revpar in the period. Cash flow is strong and we continue to decrease our debt thereby reducing the cost of finance on an ongoing basis. We expect another year of satisfactory progress," Chairman Robert Peel said in a statement.
Shares in Peel Hotels were trading down 1.9% at 103.00 pence Wednesday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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