Central Plaza Hotel Plc (Centel), the country's largest hotel operator, saw its net profit fall 35.1% year-on-year for the six-month period through June as the recent political rallies and a curfew took their toll.
The company posted a net profit of 544 million baht from January to June, down from 838 million over the same period last year.
But revenue gained 2.6% year-on-year to 8.96 billion baht. Hotel business contributed 4.06 billion baht in revenue, down 2% from the same period last year, while food operations made up 4.9 billion, 55% of the total.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation amounted to 1.81 billion baht, 11.6% lower than in the same period last year.
Suthikiati Chirathivat, Centel chairman, said the unsettled political situation in many central business district locations — especially tourist sites and major shopping malls — together with a curfew being imposed after the military coup on May 22 affected international tourist confidence, which clearly had an impact on the tourism and hotel sectors in Thailand.
Overseas tourist arrivals for the first six months totalled 11.8 million, a 10% decrease year-on-year.
For the second quarter, Centel's net profit plummeted 78% to 41.6 million baht from 189 million a year before.
The company's consolidated revenue rose 2.4% year-on-year to 4.34 billion baht during the second quarter, though hotel business revenue declined 4% from the same period last year.
The higher revenue could be attributed to a 7.1% year-on-year rise in food business, Centel said in its press release.
Of the total revenue, 1.73 billion baht was derived from the hotel business, with the remaining 2.6 billion baht from food operations, creating a revenue split for the quarter of 40:60.
Shares of CENTEL closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 37.50 baht, up one baht, in trade worth 249 million.