Centara Hotels and Resorts posted total revenue of 3.8 billion baht for the first quarter of 2022, a rise of 40% compared to the same period last year.
The firm attributed the revenue increase to its food and hotel businesses due to the country's reopening and lifting of restrictions to prevent the pandemic.
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at 951 million baht for this quarter, skyrocketing 96% compared to the corresponding period last year. The Ebitda margin of 24% was also higher than the level recorded in the previous year.
The firm recorded a profit before interest and taxes of 184 million baht, an improvement of 157% year-on-year, while the net loss decreased by 91%.
As for its hotel business, overseas hotels continuously reported strong performances, especially in the Maldives.
At the same time, the firm's hotel in Dubai had a high occupancy rate during the World Expo which ran from Oct 1, 2021 to March 31 this year. Thailand has also noticeably benefitted from the steady easing of travel restrictions.
Overall revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew by 197% year-on-year to 1.9 billion baht.
While the occupancy rate (OCC) increased from 14% to 35%, the average room rate (ARR) increased by 16% year-on-year to 5,660 baht.
Total hotel revenue in the first quarter of 2022 stood at 1.24 billion, an increase of 149% from last year.
Revenue growth in the company's food business was driven by many factors, such as the lifting of the government's lockdown policy, less concern over Covid-19 infections due to an increase in vaccination rates, and a less severe impact from the Omicron variant than the Delta variant during the pandemic.
Additionally, the company regularly launched promotions to drive sales of dine-in, takeaway and delivery, while gaining a positive impact from the "Shop Dee Mee Kuen" (shop and payback) stimulus programme.
In the first quarter of 2022, same store sales growth increased by 10% year-on-year.
The company's food business achieved total revenues of 2.63 billion baht, an increase of 360 million baht or 16% compared to the first quarter of last year.
Although factors still remain that negatively affect the hotel business, such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, differences in policy and Covid-19 preventive measurements in each key source markets, uncertainty about the recovery of the global economy, and price inflation on raw materials and transportation which impact the profit margin of the food business, there is also a positive factor due to the steady easing of travel restrictions that contributes to the number of tourist arrivals.
Furthermore, the company also continues to negotiate with suppliers to find alternative sources and uses a rising price strategy to reflect cost-push inflation.
The hotel business forecasts an average occupancy rate (including the Dubai hotel) in 2022 in the range of 40-50%, and RevPAR of approximately 1,700 to 1,900 baht.
Meanwhile, the food business expects same store sales growth of between 10-15% year-on-year and total system sales growth of between 20-25% year-on-year.
Centara Hotels and Resorts manages a total of 89 hotels or about 18,751 rooms as of March 31, 2022. Of the total, 47 hotels (9,481 rooms) are already in operation, while the other 42 hotels (9,270 rooms) are still under development.