Sol Melia sees strong final quarter

Recovery in the last quarter helped Spanish hotel chain Sol Melia achieve 10% growth in pre-tax profits last year to £34 million. An improving performance from properties in Spanish resorts, recovery in city hotels in Europe and “strong growth” in Latin America helped improve profit levels over 2002. The company, with 350 hotels in 30 countries, reported a “strong recovery in business” in the last three months of 2003. For the full year a general slow down in business travel to major European cities led to a year on year reduction in revenue per available room of 3.6% – better than the overall sector decline of 6.7%. The appreciation of the Euro against the US dollar also had a negative impact on the results. The company’s Solmelia.com site marked its fifth anniversary in 2003 with a claimed 188% annual rise in online sales. Report by Phil Davies