Covid- 19 Restrictions Cut Revenue Of Hotels By N8.5bn

The Nigerian hospitality business has seen a major setback as coronavirus pandemic led to huge revenue losses among the three major hotels quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The hotels listed on the local bourse include Transcorp Hotels Plc, Ikeja Hotel Plc and Capital Hotel Plc.

The quoted hotels lost a total of N8.5bn in revenue due to Covid- 19 induced restrictions by the end of June 2020.

The federal government had in March directed the lockdown of the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun States to help curb the spread of the virus in the country.

The restriction was further extended to other states and led to the shutdown of the country’s economy, except for businesses that were classified as “essentials” by the government.

Nigerian hotels where however hit as the industry suffered the set –back induced by the lockdown and international flights restrictions.

Details of the data gathered by THE WHISTLER revealed that Transcorp Hotels Plc lost N4.52bn in revenue.

The company’s revenue fell by 48.6 per cent to N4.8bn in June from N9.3bn revenue posted in the corresponding period of 2019.

The company, however, closed the period with a loss amounting to N3.64bn.

Lagos based Ikeja Hotel Plc saw its revenue fall by N2.9bn to N2.9bn by the end of the first quarter ending June 2020.

The amount represents 49.98 per cent dip in the company’s revenue over the six- month period after it recorded N5.8bn revenue in the first half of 2019.

The pandemic equally led to a drop in the revenue of Capital Hotel Plc by N1.1 bn in the first six months ending June 2020.

According to the company, revenue fell to N1.2bn from N2.3bn recorded between January and June last year.

The company noted that it lost N51.7m during the six months period.

The hotels believe that with the recent move by the Federal Government to lift international flight restrictions, the sector will witness recovery from the economic crisis induced by the pandemic.

The Nigerian government had said that international flights may be open for operation on or before October this year.