Inflated KPLC power bills hit Serena hotel profits

NAIROBI, KENYA: Shock power bills and lower sales in high end luxury visits to Kenya has dampened the rebound of TPS East Africa.

The 15 hotels and resorts franchise across East Africa under the Serena brand name reported a Sh168 million after tax loss in the first half of 2018, an improvement from the Sh188 million loss in the six months to June last year.

TPS says that given the seasonal nature of tourism the first year’s numbers should not necessarily be taken as the basis for forecasting the rest of the year.

“The results have been impacted by lower than expected sales from the foreign leisure tourism arrivals in Kenya and the unexpected increase in energy and other operating costs,” Company Secretary Domnic Ng’ang’a said.

Kenya Power slapped consumers with inflated bills early in the year which led to uproar from consumers, a suit against the distributor and the eventual axing of its entire management on allegations of corruption that caused inefficiencies that led to higher costs passed on to consumers.

The hotel chain however saw sales increase from Sh2.62 billion to Sh2.68 billion which was whittled down by the costs to a gross profit of Sh833,000 in 2018 from Sh86.3 million in a similar period last year.