With the company’s on-going property developments, people driven focus and community partnerships tipped to not just contribute to the local economy but also boost the company’s performance leisure focused group, Cresta Marakanelo says it is optimistic about the year 2023.
This follows the waning in strength of the negative effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to Cresta and other tourism and hospitality industry players in 2020 and 2021.
The Covid-19 outbreak in late 2019 drubbed the leisure focused operator, registering a loss for the six months ended June 2020. When summed up altogether, Cresta registered a pre-tax loss of P42.5 million for the six months ended June 2020, a stark contrast to the pre-tax profit of P12.1 million in June 2019, which was an increase of 170 percent from 2018’s figures after Cresta implemented cost containment initiatives at the hotels which resulted in improved margins and higher profitability. The momentum built a fee years before Covid 19 pandemic were decimated by the outbreak, bringing the hotel operator back to square one.
However, fast forward to 2022, the group found its fit again registering growth in Net profit of up to P9.4 million compared to the 35.2 million net loss recorded in 2021. Other key highlights included a 72 percent rise in revenue to P164.9 million (HY 2021:P93.0 million) while gross profit increased by 305 percent reaching P68.0 million (HY 2021: P16.8 million).
The Botswana Stock Exchange quoted hotelier’s Balance sheet expanded by a single digit (8 percent) to reach P523.4 million from P485.6 million in 2021.
The company directors stated at the time that it has started recording a significant increase in occupancies at its hotels due to continued arrival of international tourists as well as a steady rise in local travel.
Fast forward to 2023, Mokwena Morulane – the group Managing Director says 2023 is a year of consolidation for the group as the business fully recovers from the effects of Covid-19 and resumes its growth strategy, which will focus on both organic and inorganic growth.
“Our ongoing property developments and the considerable improvements to our infrastructure is a key avenue in which we will improve our value proposition in the market, and most importantly enhance our guest experience across all our properties”, says Morulane.
The extension of Cresta Mahalapye Hotel to add 60 rooms is poised to position the property as the hub of hospitality in the sub-region, cementing the Group’s position as industry leader, with the highest number of hotel rooms in Botswana. The extension also sees the property launch an additional state-of-the-art conferencing facility, which will significantly increase its hosting capacity and enable the hotel to maximise revenue.
Cresta Thapama Hotel, located in the Francistown city centre is also undergoing a major facelift and room refurbishment, with the renovation of all of its 96 rooms expected to be completed in the second quarter of the year. The construction of the iconic Cresta Jwaneng 50-bed boutique hotel is also fully underway, following the ground-breaking ceremony of the hotel in November 2022.
