MANAMA: Businesses across the board in general and hospitality sector in specific are being impacted by untoward incidents in Bahrain, according to a leading businessman.
Farouk Almoayyed, Chairman Gulf Hotels Group, on the sidelines of the annual general meeting on Tuesday, said that he wants to see investors and conferences back in Bahrain.
He said despite best efforts of hospitality industry the ugly incident scare investors and many global events were also reluctant to come to Bahrain making it even harder for hotels to sustain the business patterns.
Almoayyed further stated that the difficult business conditions encountered since the 2011 unrest have continued and the number of international travelers and conferences continue to be lower than in 2010, greatly affecting the hospitality sector, which has marginal growth against last year.
He said that Gulf Hotel would open the first hotel in UAE with initial capital of BD50 million in additions to a major renovation and opening up of brand new spa Gulf Hotel Manama.
Highlighting the results he said the Group had reported a net profit of BD10.5 million in 2013, the highest in the Group’s history.
Gulf Hotels Group’s forty fourth Annual General Meeting presided by the Group’s Chairman, Farouk Y. Almoayyed, while representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, Central Bank of Bahrain, Auditors Ernst and Young and Fakhro Karvy Computer Share were also present.
Chairman, Farouk Y. Almoayyed, said that the Group had reported a net profit of BD10.460 million, an increase of BD353,758 or 3.50% on 2012, which surpassed the budgeted profit for 2013 and the Group managed to achieve a total Gross Operating Revenue of BD 31.940 million compared to BD 32.526 million in 2012, a slight decrease of 1.80 %.
Almoayyed further announced that the positive profit levels achieved in 2013 have produced earnings per share of 63 fils compared to 61 fils last year.
Almoayyed added that based on the results, the Shareholders approved a dividend payout of 40% or 40 fils per share, totaling BD 6.6million, Director’s fees of BD 180,000, Charity Reserve Expenses of BD 258,209 and BD 10,000 towards National Promotional activities.
Strong results from the retail sector have helped to bolster the company’s performance and there have been some strong returns on various company investments. With everything taken into consideration, he added that Gulf Hotels Group has once again improved its 2012 profit levels which was itself a record year.
Almoayyed took this opportunity to announce that with effect from January 2014, Aqeel Raees, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Hotels Group has been given additional responsibility and appointed to the GHG board in recognition of his major contribution to the development and success of the company.
Almoayyed also took this opportunity to thank Sahar Ataei who stepped down as Director of the Board and appreciate her contribution towards the success of Gulf Hotels Group during her tenure. He also welcomed Maher Salman Jabor Al Musallam, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Air and Damien Jean Marie Balmet to the Board who were appointed in February 2014 as Nominees of Gulf Air.
Almoayyed praised the Management of Gulf Hotels Group and all its subsidiaries, led by Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, Aqeel Raees, thanking them for their hard work and determination which have led to these positive results.