AZIMUT Hotels Company (located in Saint Petersburg and Moscow) management has come up with its 2009 annual business reportĀ andĀ business forecast for 2010. The first two months that are usually the worst in a year for hotel business, have shown a 10% growth in capacity and a 8% surplus increase, compared to that for the same period last year.
On an EBITDA, the company's profitability in 2009 lowered by 2%; on an average-market scale, the decline rate amounted to 15-20%. The company took efforts to optimize expenses and alter sales strategy by introducing flexible pricing policies. These efforts have helped the company prevent dramatic fall in profitability in tough economy.
Lodging service prices have changed little since 2008, and ADR decreased by only 2%. According to experts, average market ADR was down 20%; in a number of cases, it dropped by 30-35%. Last year's RevPar lodging revenue rate totaled 17% lower (average market decrease amounted to 30-35%). However, over the first few months of 2010, hotel booking has grown by 10% compared to the same period last year.
In 2009, AZIMUT Hotels Company laid emphasis on the F&B sector, traditionally making up a share of about 30% of the whole revenue. In some hotels, its share has grown up to 35-40%.
According to Nikolai Filatov, AZIMUT Hotels Company's finance manager, the company showed positive hotel booking results in 2009."...We were to retain profitability and ensure effective work of all departments in times of crisis, and we have done just that. A significant growth of basic financial rates over the past six-month period indicates that we have picked out the right business strategy" - Filatov concluded.
08.03.2010