OREANDA-NEWS. Orascom Development Holding (ODH) was again confronted with a difficult environment that was influenced by ongoing travel bans as well as political and economic uncertainty in key markets. Total revenues decreased by 33.5% to CHF 109.4 million compared to CHF 164.5 million in 1H 2015, mainly due to the strategic decision to become more selective with land sales which amounted to CHF 42.8 million in the comparative period as well as lower hotel revenues in Egypt. In addition, results were impacted by currency losses in the amount of CHF 10.0 million.


Gross profit reached CHF 7.0 million and the net loss attributable to shareholders for the reporting period amounted to CHF 41.3 million compared to a net profit of CHF 4.0 million a year ago. On the other hand, Adj. EBITDA for the period remained positive reaching CHF 8.1 million during 1H 2016.

Oman and UAE's hotels continue their positive performance while hotel segment revenues still suffer from decline in Egypt's tourism revenues

Overall, total hotel segment revenues decreased to CHF 48.6 million in 1H 2016 compared to CHF 58.5 million in 1H 2015.

The hotels in the Gulf region continued their positive performance. In Oman, huge demand was acknowledged for Salalah while we are speeding up the construction activities of Al Fanar hotel's expansion to include 84 new rooms to the existing hotel portfolio, bringing its total room count to 302 by December 2016.  Omani hotels reached a revenue growth of 53.6% from CHF 8.9 million in 1H 2015 to CHF 13.3 million in 1H 2016 and the occupancy rate increased from 45% in 1H 2015 to 64% in 1H 2016. Similarly, in UAE, The Cove Rotana maintained its momentum and reported a revenue increase of 6.8% growing from CHF 12.1 million in 1H 2015 to CHF 12.9 million in 1H 2016 and occupancy rate increased from 70% to 74% in 1H 2016.

In Egypt, the tourism sector is suffering from the continued travel bans from Russia and some European countries. Egypt's tourist arrivals declined nearly 60% y-o-y in June 2016. However, El Gouna's diversified market segmentation limited the magnitude of this industry stance to only a 14 percent point decline in occupancy from 65% in 1H 2015 to 51% in the reporting period. The new Ancient Sand Hotel in El Gouna with 56 rooms and 120 hotel apartments were opened in April 2016 reflecting the continuing development of the flagship destination. In Makadi, full ownership of Citadel Azur, one of our top performing five star hotels with 514 rooms, was taken in July 2016. In Taba Heights, demand picked up during the quarter which led to the re-opening of 160 rooms in the Strand Beach & Golf Resort in July 2016 out of the 503 rooms. Total occupancy of the available rooms increased to 21% in 1H 2016 vs. 15% in 1H 2015. Taba remains the most challenging destination to date given the extended travel bans to Sinai.


Advancing real estate and town management developments in Montenegro and Oman, speeding up construction progress and adding liveliness to the destinations.

Real estate revenues reached CHF 32.1 million in 1H 2016 compared to CHF 41.1 million in 1H 2015. The Group's total value of contracted units in 1H 2016 reached CHF 57.4 million compared to CHF 69.5 million in 1H 2015.

Total deferred revenue from real estate that is yet to be recognized until 2018 reached CHF 148.5 million in 1H 2016 compared to CHF 144.9 million in 1H 2015.