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South Africa’s Sun International to sell stake in Federal Palace Hotel

22 Aug 2016, 11:35 am
Financial Nigeria
South Africa’s Sun International to sell stake in Federal Palace Hotel

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- Sun International said it will exit its investment due to Nigeria's slowing economy and a dispute with local Nigerian partners.

Federal Palace Hotel and Casino, Victoria Island, Lagos

Sun International, a leading South African hotel group, said on Monday that it will exit its investment in Nigeria due to the country’s slowing economy and a dispute with local Nigerian partners.

The Johannesburg-based company owns a 49 percent stake in Tourist Company of Nigeria (TCN), owners of the Federal Palace Hotel and Casino. (The stake was acquired in 2007 from Ikeja Hotels Plc, a leading Nigerian hotel chain).

“The Federal Palace continues to operate in a difficult environment with the Nigerian economy facing a number of crises including the low oil price, Boko Haram and a weakening Naira and it has still not recovered from the significant impact that the Ebola epidemic had on the business,” Sun International said in its 2016 full year report. “After much consideration the Board has determined to exit Nigeria and steps will be taken to achieve this in a manner that does not erode further value.”

Sun International said occupancy rates at Federal Palace Hotel stood at 41.6 percent in 2016, which is 6.8 percent below last year. The company also said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) declined by 58 percent despite all efforts to keep costs as low as possible.

In January this year, Sun International announced that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had launched a probe into the company’s investment in TCN, which amounts to about $50 million to date.

The company had been having a long-running dispute with Ikeja Hotels Plc, a major shareholder in TCN, over plans to renovate the Federal Palace Hotel.

Sun International said the EFCC detained five of the company’s staff members and continues to hold their passports although no charges have been filed against the individuals or the company.

“Continued setbacks in Nigeria as well as the ongoing shareholder dispute have frustrated all attempts to develop and improve the property ... As a result of the current environment and issues facing the company the board has taken the decision to exit our investment in Nigeria.” the company said. “This is however expected to be a protracted process given the challenges we are facing and to ensure we receive fair value for our investment.”

For the full year ended on June 30th, Sun International said revenues rose 15 percent year-on-year to 12.19 billion rand ($895.08 million) driven by new properties opened in Panama and Colombia as well as new businesses, in particular the insourcing of food and beverage in South Africa.

Sun International said its Nigerian operations contributed 202 million rand to the group’s revenues while its South African operations contributed 9.5 billon rand to group revenues.

Notwithstanding the growth in revenues, Sun International said it recorded an after-tax loss of 503 million rand ($36.95 million) compared with a 1.03 billion rand ($75.65 million) profit last year due mainly to a 675 million rand settlement with a rival company over a casino license. The company declared a final dividend of 1.35 rand, taking total divided to 2.25 rand.

Sun International is famous for its Sun City Resort, located on the North West province in South Africa, in addition to several casinos and lodges across that country. Besides South Africa, Sun International has properties in Botswana, Chile, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, Swaziland, Zambia, Panama, and Colombia.



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