Gooderson earnings up activity in leisure property sector picks up
Gavin Castleman, Chief Operating Officer at Gooderson Leisure
Listed hotel and resort group Gooderson Leisure Corporation’s (GDN) on Firday 31st announced its group revenue was marginally up at R110.6m from R108.3m and earnings before interest‚ taxes‚ depreciation and amortisation was 5.8% lower at R13.6m from R14.4m.
The results included a R15.8m profit on the sale of a business.
The company’s headline earnings per share increased 21% to 3.81c in the year ended February after a “noticeable increase in activity levels in the second six months‚” in spite of reduced demand and an oversupply of rooms.
The sale of the Beach Hotel on Durban’s beach front was announced last May.
The financial performance was also helped by the acquisition of Monks Cowl Country Club and Lodge in Central Drakensberg in August‚ which formed part of the group’s growth strategy.
A final gross dividend of 1.76c was declared - the final dividend was passed the previous year.
Net asset value increased by 28% to 151.28c per share from 118.45c.
Management said in a statement they were cautiously optimistic of an accelerated improvement in earnings.
Gooderson invested R9m on maintenance capital expenditure.
At Monks Cowl Country Club and Lodge‚ in Central Drakensberg‚ permission had been granted to develop 42 rooms‚ of which 18 rooms were being built and which would be ready for occupation in October or November.
The group has also invested in new mountain bike and BMX cycle tracks at Natal Spa Hot Springs & Leisure Resort in Paulpietersburg‚ installed a heated pool at Drakensberg Gardens Golf and Leisure Resort‚ and built a large Bird Park and conference centre at Dumazulu Game Lodge & Traditional Village in Hluhluwe.
An outside marketer had been engaged to sell timeshare weeks at Kloppenheim Country Estate in the Highlands Meander‚ near Machadodorp and Dullstroom.
These developments‚ together with the completed conference centre at Fabz Garden Hotel and Conference Centre in Lonehill‚ Gauteng and four timeshare units at Fairways in Drakensberg‚ put the group in a good position to take advantage of market improvements‚ the directors said.
Revenue from its hotels and lodges for the year amounted to R93.4m in the year‚ while revenue from timeshare came to R17.2m.
The hotels and lodges segment generated R17.1m pretax profit. The timeshare division contributed R6.7m of pretax profit.
