February 25 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian hotel operator Sofia Hotel Balkan [BUL:SBH] said on Thursday that it closed last year with a consolidated net loss of some 8.8 million levs ($5.5 million/4.5 million euro), compared to a net profit of 1.2 million levs in 2019.
The company's revenue plunged to 10.7 million levs last year from some 34 million levs in 2019, Sofia Hotel Balkan said in an annual financial statement.
Sofia Hotel Balkan, which is running a five-star hotel of the same name in central Sofia, said the decrease in revenue was due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the hospitality sector. The hotel operator's revenue from overnights fell by about 71% year-on-year in 2020, according to the statement.
At the same time, the expenses of the hotel operated dropped to 19.5 million levs in 2020 from 38.1 million levs the year before, with expenses for hired service declining the most, figures from the financial statement showed.
The assets of Sofia Hotel Balkan amounted to some 176 million levs at the end of 2020, down from 182.5 million levs a year earlier.
The financial statement also showed that Cyprus-based Potamiro held directly 87.49% interest in Sofia Hotel Balkan as of the end of 2020 while Cyprus-based Kokari controlled 11.85%. Potamiro acquired the stake from its unit Bandola Properties in November. Earlier in 2020, Potamiro acquired 100% of Bandola Properties' sole owner - Naranjilla Company.
Last month, Potamiro increased its stake in Sofia Hotel Balkan by acquiring 317 shares via a buyout bid priced at 12.15 levs per share. Potamiro's buyout offer targeted 34,622 shares in Sofia Hotel Balkan.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)