Sunbird profit jumps 162%

Buoyed by increased occupancy rates, profit for hospitality and hotel chain Sunbird Tourism jumped by about 162 percent to K457 million in 2013, a summary of financial statement have shown.

According published financial statement yesterday co-signed by the group’s board chairperson Leonard Chikadya, the company’s revenues rose by 55 percent to K8.5 billion while occupancy rates increased from 55 percent in 2012 to 57 percent in 2013.

The company explains that the improved occupancy rate is due to increased activity in the second half of the year and enhanced sales and marketing initiatives.

Sunbird has further indicated that at the forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM), the board of directors will recommend a total dividend of K60 million, an equivalent of 22 tambala per share for the year ended December 31.

During the year, the company paid an interim dividend of K27 million.

Looking ahead, Sunbird says it is very optimistic that the performance of the company in 2014 will remain solid as it expects corporate and conference segments to achieve more growth.

The whole hospitality industry is projected to grow by 7.6 percent after growing by six percent in 2013 from about 2.7 percent growth rate in 2012, according to the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).

The central bank noted that the growth in 2013 is explained by an improvement in patronage of hotels and resorts due to uninterrupted supply of fuel while anticipated rise in demand for hospitality services is due to the upcoming general elections.