ASL records US$10m loss

loss incurred from discontinued operations.
Loss from discontinued operations amounted to US$6,6 million including US$1,9 million in impairment charges.
ASL closed down two loss-making operations in South Africa during the period under review.
The group also disposed of its non-core business, Hotelserve, which dropped 39 percent compared to the previous year due to exchange rate volatility.
Losses were also pushed by costs mainly driven by turnover-based costs such as rentals and franchise fees.
For the 12 months, revenue for the group increased 22 percent to US$48,8 million from US$39,9 recorded in the comparable year.
Earning before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation went up 432 percent to US$2,7 million excluding restructuring costs of US$3,2 million.
Occupancies for the group also went up 11 percent to close at 51 percent.
ASL chief executive Dr Shingi Munyeza told an analyst briefing in the capital on Wednesday that following value recovery initiatives by the group business, is likely to improve in the following financial year.
During the period under review ASL embarked on a restructuring exercise targeting leakages such as non-performing hotels.
“We had to take away bleeding assets to focus more on profitable businesses in line with the new business model,” said Dr Munyeza.
The group also embarked on a staff rationalisation exercise that reduced its head count by 58 percent under a US$2,4 million budget.
Despite registering a loss for the year, Dr Munyeza said the group had to pile up its legacy issues in 2011 and start the new financial year having reduced costs and a debt management strategy. Going forward, Dr Munyeza said with the current US$10 million refurbishment exercise going on, business is expected to improve into 2012 driven by city hotels.
“Our strategy going forward is to dominate the Zimbabwean market, which is proving to be profitable and continue growth targets in the region through management contracts.
Zimbabwe’s recovery in the tourism sector is sustained with foreign and domestic room nights, which went up by 14 percent and 12 percent respectively.
The country’s tourism sector is expected to grow by about 37 percent in 2012 buoyed by improvements in access to the country’s tourism destinations.
During the period under review international arrivals increased 23 percent followed by regional arrivals weighing in 15 percent and locals contributed 12 percent.
Zimbabwe’s operations have continued on an upward trend with 50 percent contribution to revenue coming from city hotels.
ASL is focusing a revenue per average room of at least 25 percent in 2012 from the US$40 achieved in 2011.