Sri Lanka Lighthouse profits up, in deal with boutique hotel

Feb 08, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Lighthouse Hotel has seen December 2010 quarter profit rise sharply from a year ago amid a tourism boom and has struck a deal with a small boutique hotel on the south coast, its accounts showed.

The hotel, in which Sri Lanka's Jetwing leisure group has increased its controlling stake, made a net profit of 17 million rupees in the quarter compared with just 383,000 rupees the year before. Earnings per share were 0.37 rupees against 0.01.

Sales rose 62 percent to 114 million rupees during the period, according to a stock exchange filing.

The Lighthouse Hotel said it has signed a five-year lease agreement with 'Era Beach Hotel' in Thalpe, close to the southern coastal tourist resort town of Galle, with effect from December 01, 2010.

The eight-roomed hotel has been developed from two refurbished colonial-period bungalows and has a small pool.

The stock exchange filing said Jetwing Hotels Management Services, which had a 31 percent stake in Lighthouse Hotel as at December 31, 2010, had raised its stake with a further 3.2 million shares on January 20, 2011 after regulatory approval.