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Blantyre Hotels Limited (BHL), owners of the four-star Protea Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre, have unveiled plans to build a 250-room luxury five-star hotel and conference centre in Lilongwe at an estimated cost of K1.5 billion.
BHL board chairman David Russell said in an interview on Thursday a market assessment has already been undertaken and an evaluation of the project will soon be concluded.
Russell said commencement of the project will depend on conclusion of an evaluation exercise.
He said about K292 million (two million euros) is already available for the Lilongwe project from the K584 million (four million euros) loan facility from the European Investment Bank, half of which was used in the new Ryalls Hotel.
BHL also reports in its annual report for the year-ended September 30, 2004 that an undisclosed “substantial” third party funding is in place to realise the Lilongwe five-star hotel dream.
Russell said the Lilongwe five-star hotel, which if it opens before the stalled Namiwawa Hotel in Blantyre will be the first in the country, will have a conference centre and other facilities.
He said the plan is to have between 150 and 250 rooms some of which, he said, can be left unoccupied awaiting major events such as summits.
Prudence Chanthunya, Protea Ryalls Hotel sales and marketing manager, said on Tuesday Ryalls Hotel has 94 new rooms in the new wing and 26 renovated ones in the old wing which has also been transformed into a conference centre.
Chanthunya said the Lilongwe hotel will have more business facilities than the Blantyre one.
BHL’s plans to expand to Lilongwe come at a time when the company has gone three years without paying a dividend to its shareholders because of servicing debts incurred to construct the new Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre.
But Russell said the listed company’s shareholders should expect good tidings in the near future after going three years without earning a dividend.
Last year BHL made a profit-after-tax of K7.3 million for the first time in three years but declared zero dividend because it is servicing loans with the European Investment Bank, Industrial Development Corporation and IndeBank.
“Once these loans are redeemed then we will start paying dividends to shareholders,” he said, adding: “We believe the future is bright for the company and its shareholders.”
BHL’s outstanding loans as of September 30, 2004 stood at K724 million.
The firm made a profit-after-tax of K7.3 million last year after registering consecutive net losses in 2002 and 2003 that amounted to K19.6 million and K124.4 million respectively.
BHL’s finance and administration manager Hastings Thembakako said in another interview that the increase in operating profits from K38 million the previous year to K81 million during the year under review is another reflection of the company’s good performance.
“It shows that we have no problems in terms of our operations. A stable currency is good news for us,” he said.
Before selling Shire Highlands Hotel in Limbe for K54 million last December, BHL used to own two hotels in the country, both in Blantyre.
BHL is owned 28.5 percent by Nico Life Insurance Company Limited, 26.4 percent by Africap LLC, 21.6 percent by Press Trust and the remaining 23.5 percent is shared between other shareholders and the public through the Malawi Stock Exchange.
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