One of the leading hospitality organisations in the country, Transcorp Hotels Plc, started the year on a rather wrong note, recording a loss in the first three months of 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic, which originated from the Wuhan city of China last December, has had a huge toll on the global economy this year and the travel/tourism sector remains one of the most affected.
Flights have been grounded due to the closing of airports around the world, while some hotels have been converted into isolation centres to cater for those infected with the virus.
In its Q1 2020 results, Transcorp Hotels said its revenue was flat at N4.2 billion over the comparative periods, while the cost of sales increased to N1.2 billion from N1.1 billion in Q1 2019, with gross profit slightly down to N3.0 billion from N3.1 billion.
However, the company said there was an improvement in the other operating income, which closed at N129.5 million, higher than N80.0 million in the corresponding period of last year.
But the operating profit was not lucky as it went down to N660.7 million in the first three months of this year from N1.1 billion in the first three months of last year.
During the period under review, Transcorp Hotels said there was a spike in its administrative expenses to N2.5 billion from N2.1 billion in the same time of last year, with the net finance costs also rising to N1.4 billion from N673.5 million.
According to the results, Transcorp Hotels recorded a loss before tax of N686.5 million in Q1 2020 compared with a profit before tax of N436.5 million in Q1 2019.
Also, the firm printed a loss after tax of N686.5 million in contrast to the profit after tax of N296.8 million in the same time of last year, while the earnings per share closed at negative in this period at -9 kobo versus 4 kobo of Q1 2019.
