Peninsula logs losses in H1 despite profits in Q2

The Peninsula Chittagong did manage to return to profits in the second quarter of the current fiscal year 2022-23, but that did not prove to be enough to help the company recoup the huge losses it had incurred in the previous quarter.

In the July to September quarter of FY23, the company posted a loss of Tk3.93 crore, and in the flowing quarter, it made a profit of Tk94.93 lakh. As a result, the volume of losses the company incurred in the first half of the fiscal stood at Tk2.96 crore.

In the first half of FY23, the company's loss per share stood at Tk0.25, compared to an EPS (earnings per share) of Tk0.64 in the same period of FY22.

According to the company's disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website on Monday, a decrease in the company's financial income, and increases in its cost of goods sold and administrative expenses have led to its losses in the first half.

The Business Standard tried to reach Peninsula's Company Secretary Nurul Azim over the phone, but he did not respond.

After withstanding the Covid-19 shock, the hotel started to come back in business in mid-2022.

But a 24.5% decline in its finance income, 89.1% increase in the cost of goods sold, and 50.3% increase in administrative expenses threw the company into losses.

In FY22, the hotel's revenue grew by 22.7% year-on-year thanks to an improvement in the Covid situation, but its profit fell by 53% to Tk2.31 crore because of the soaring expenses.

In that fiscal, the company had paid a 2.5% cash dividend for the shareholders.

As it paid a dividend below 10%, the company was downgraded to "B" category from "A" category.

The Peninsula Chittagong was listed on the stock exchanges in 2014.