Country Club reports N$43m profit

Country Club reports N$43m profit Full refurbishment and solar power installation planned The Windhoek Country Club and Resort once again declared a profit and handed over a dividend cheque to government for a second year running. The Windhoek Country Club and Resort this week handed over a dividend cheque amounting to N$5 million to public enterprise minister Leon Jooste and environment minister Pohamba Shifeta. The Legacy-managed hotel reported a gross operating profit of N$43 million this week.

Speaking at the handover, Country Club chairperson Sven Thieme said, “According to the latest annual research from World Travel and Tourism Council, Namibia was on the list of countries which are forecasted to be the highest economy with fastest contribution to gross domestic product from the tourism and travel sector between 2015 and 2025.

“In light of this positive news, it gives me great pleasure to advise that the past financial year for the Windhoek Country Club Resort and Casino has been a challenging but satisfying one. When looking back at 2015/16 we can once again smile about overall satisfying and solid results.”

Despite a large number of rooms being out of circulation, excellent highlights from a financial perspective which include the following facts and figures, were announced: Hotel turnover growth year on year was 4.26%; the food and beverages department increased their turnover by 8% and its operating profit were extremely strong at N$9.9million, Thieme said.

He noted that profits generated from food and beverages was commendable, and praised the management for attending to funds prudently.

“Room turnover year on year was static at N$32 million. The average room rate rose by 7% and occupancy remained flat with the previous year even though a full room refurbishment commenced during the year under review. Gaming turnover dropped slightly by 5% year on year and this can mainly be ascribed to the smoking laws in Namibia which prohibit smoking inside the venue, new competitors entering the gaming market and high inflation rates in 2015/16 which have led to a reduction in customer spending,” said Thieme.

Overall turnover showed a slight drop of 1.2% year on year. Gross margins for the year were N$80 million. Gross operating profit for the year was N$43 million, slightly down on last year’s amount of N$44 million, mainly due to higher operational costs.

It was also announced that a full refurbishment of the hotel was in the process of being completed. The refurbishment which started in April 2016 was expected to be completed in April 2017 at a cost a total cost of N$59.6 million. The project, Thieme said, was fully-funded out of the Country Club’s cash reserves. “More exciting news is the fact that we plan to do a full refurbishment on the casino toilets, casino bar, deli and entrance, and the Kokerboom restaurant during the current financial year at a planned capital cost of N$3million. Scheduled completion is also planned for April 2017.”

Thieme announced that the Country Club planned to install solar panels on the rooftops at an approximate cost of N$4 million. The scheduled start date of the project is January/February 2017. “We expect the solar project to make a significant difference to our electricity consumption and are pleased to reveal that a fully Namibian-owned and registered company will be offered the tender for this project.” The 200 kilowatt plant will account for 20% of the entire Country Club’s energy needs he said.

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