August 28 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian hotel operator Sofia Hotel Balkan [BUL:SHB] said on Monday its consolidated net profit fell to 255,000 levs ($140,914/130,379 euro) in the first half of 2023 from 1.04 million levs a year earlier.
Sofia Hotel Balkan's operating revenue went up to 17.8 million levs in the January-June period from 14.9 million levs in the comparable period of 2022, the company said in an interim financial statement.
Revenue growth was primarily driven by income from overnights, which added 21% to 10.6 million levs. Sofia Hotel Balkan, which runs a five-star hotel in central Sofia, also saw its income from restaurants increase by 50.5% to 6.2 million levs, while the remaining revenue was formed by rental income and government financing.
The company's expenses widened to 17.4 million levs in the first six months of 2023 from 13.8 million levs a year earlier on the back of higher costs for materials and remuneration, along with interest expenses.
Last month, the hotel operator reported a standalone net loss of 987,000 levs for the first half of this year after a profit of 17,000 levs a year earlier.
Shares in Sofia Hotel Balkan last traded at 45.00 levs on the BaSE market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, bourse data show.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)