March 22 (SeeNews) - Croatian hotel operator Arenaturist said on Wednesday its consolidated profit before tax climbed 71% on the year to 42.7 million kuna ($6.2 million/5.8 million euro) in 2016, on the back of a strong tourism season.
The company's consolidated revenue increased 8.2% to a record-high 435.9 million kuna, while EBITDA expanded 13% to 132 million kuna, Arenaturist said in an audited financial statement posted with the Zagreb bourse.
The hotel operator's EBITDA margin stood at 30.3%, up 130 bps.
Arenaturist's occupancy rate in 2016 totalled 45.3%, up from 44.2% a year earlier, while the number of overnight stays fell slightly to 1.83 million from 1.84 million.
"The Croatian economy experienced strong growth in 2016 and tourism was one of the main drivers for this growth," the company's chief executive officer Reni Slonim is quoted saying.
"In addition, many traditional and, arguably better known, leisure destinations were affected adversely by geopolitical events, the refugee crisis and/or economic unrest, all of which diverted leisure tourism from those affected countries to Croatia," he noted, adding that this trend is expected to continue into 2017.
In 2016, Arenaturist invested 17.3 million kuna in its Croatian operations with a focus on the expansion and improvement of its portfolio.
PPHE Hotel Group's owns 74.15% of Arenaturist and has received a regulatory approval to acquire the remaining 25.85%.
Arenaturist and its three subsidiaries, which it recently merged into itself, run seven hotels, four self-catering holiday apartment complexes, eight campsites and numerous food and beverage outlets all of which are located in Croatia's Istria.
In December 2016, Arenaturist acquired from PPHE Hotel Group 88% of its German and Hungarian operations, consisting of seven Park Plaza and art’otel branded hotels. As at December 31, 2016, Arenaturist owned, co-owned, leased or managed 15 hotels, four self-catering holiday apartment complexes and eight campsites.
In the coming period Arenaturist’s strategy is focused on becoming a leading owner and operator of hospitality assets primarily in Croatia, Germany and Hungary.
(euro=7.41205 kuna)