Chiganze said the group had dumped its South African operations as well as the Hotelserve (Private) Limited subsidiary. To boost its business prospects, however, the hotel chain reviewed its agreement with Holiday Inn Gaborone.
African Sun operates the Holiday Inn Harare, Holiday Inn Mutare and Holiday Inn Beitbridge, known as Holiday Inn Express. It is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
Chiganze said his company would operate in South Africa until the end of 2011, but would then exit the lease agreement with the landlord.
African Sun's Chief Executive is Shingai Munyeza, one of Zimbabwe's longest serving hotel executives and a former Tourism Personality of the Year. Chiganze said the Group's performance in 2001 was "mixed", with Zimbabwe hotels registering strong growth, while the two South African hotels reported losses due to "persistent difficult trading conditions".
"Consequently, a decision was taken to close these two hotels and this was implemented in the last quarter of the financial year," he said.
On Hotelserve, Chiganze said the entity was disposed of as it had become non-core to African Sun's operations.
"Revenue from Hotelserve was depressed during the year under review, falling 39 percent short of what was achieved last year as volumes declined and margins were affected by the United States dollar/South African Rand volatility, registering a loss of $279 100,” he said.
African Sun has a market capitalisation of $831 472 907 and a share price of 80c on the bourse.
Post published in: Business