Wilderness revenue up as Ebola fears subside

Isaac Pinielo | Tuesday October 25, 2016 14:35

The group, which operates 45 safari camps and lodges, and 10 scheduled overland safaris in Botswana, Congo, Kenya, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, said its revenue increased by 19% to P642 million this year compared to P539 million in 2015. “The group has delivered pleasing trading results for the first half of the year on the back of a recovery in international travel within Africa following the end of the Ebola virus.  The global terrorist threat and the Zika virus in South America also impacted as they contributed to the market’s perception of southern Africa as a safer and more attractive destination compared with the rest of the world,” Wilderness said.

The increase, according to the group, was driven mainly by the change in sales mix with a 12% increase in contribution by the classic camp category. The group recorded a 66% occupancy rate compared to 64% in 2015. Overall bednight sales increased by 14% to 89,309 from 78,307 in 2015, excluding Governors’ bednight sales, which increased by three percent. Wilderness recently bought a 51% stake in Governors’ camp in Kenya.

The half-year results include the Governors’ businesses from July 2016 with a contribution of P39 million and P18 million to revenue and earnings before tax respectively.

Available bednights have increased by 10% to 136,038 from 123,280 in 2015, excluding Governors’, available bednights increased by one percent.

According to the group, the benefit of the depreciation of the pula by nine percent against the US dollar to P10.89 was offset by the 11% appreciation of the pula against the South African rand to R1.36.

It said the combination of the net currency movement did not have a significant impact on revenue. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin declined slightly from 28% to 27.2%, largely due to the foreign exchange losses.

“These are a function of the appreciation of the home currencies against the US dollar since the beginning of the financial year as the pula and rand strengthened by seven percent and 13%, respectively,” the group stated.

It further said that adjusted EBITDA margins, which exclude the effects of the Governors’ transaction and the foreign exchange losses, increased from 25.6% to 27.1%.

Operating costs increased by 11% on a like for like basis after adjusting for Governors’ camp collection.