Misr Hotel Company (MHOT) announced that it registered EGP 5m in net profit during the first quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015/2016, compared to an EGP 7m net loss recorded during the same quarter last year. The company's revenues amounted to EGP 16.3m for the same quarter, compared to EGP 205,600 during last year's first quarter. On 11 October, the company's general assembly ratified the financial statements for FY 2014/2015, in which the company registered a net loss of EGP 32.15m compared to a net loss of EGP 31.2m during FY 2013/2014. The general assembly agreed to absolve the board of directors for the FY and restructure a new board of directors and elect a member to represent the private capital. MHOT previously stated that the loss was due to shutting down the Nile Ritz-Carlton hotel and the decline of performance in the Dahab Resort. Dahab Resort's performance slowed down due to the recent political events that took place in South Sinai. Earlier this month, head of JLL in Egypt Ayman Sami said that the occupancy rates rose 53% this year from January until August, compared to 41% in the same period of 2014. Sami said the increase reflects the return of confidence and increasing visitor arrivals. He said the financial performance of Cairo hotels improved slower than the occupancy rate, with the average daily rate increasing from January to August 2015 by 2% compared to the same period in 2014. The evaluation of the Egyptian pound would have a positive impact on the tourism sector since it creates a good value for money, providing affordable services to tourists, Head of Hotels (MENA) Fillippo Sona at Colliers International told the Daily News Egypt earlier this month.
