Sri Lanka's Continental Hotel Spends $60mn On Expansion

11th July 2010, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Continental Hotel, the oldest 5-star rated property in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo will spend 60 million US dollars to expand and refurbish to cater to an expected influx of tourists after the end of a long running war, an official said.

Sri Lanka's listed Hayleys group bought a 51 percent stake in Continental hotel in March 2010 for 1.8 billion US dollars (15.5 million US dollars) or 21 rupees per share valuing the entire hotel at over 30 million US dollars at that time.

But the stock traded last week a 28 rupees a share.

A key shareholder of Hayleys is Dhammika Perera, whose Vallibel group now controls Amaya Leisure, which has started a 100 million US dollar expansion program.

"Continental is also on the verge of spending 10 million US dollars in refurbishing the property," Amaya Leisure managing director Lalin Samarawickrama told a business forum in Colombo organized by Acuity, an investment bank.

"They have another 50 million dollar development in the back of the hotel to develop further bedrooms."

Five star rated hotels in Sri Lanka's capital are now enjoying close to 80 percent occupancy and are yielding about 90 US dollar a room, officials of John Keells Holdings, which own two newer hotels in Colombo said.

Samarawickrama, who is a director of Continental did not elaborate on financing, but hotel is debt free and has space to leverage.

The hotel is on a 99-year land leased from Sri Lanka's tourist board, a state agency, with 57 years remaining unexpired.

"The hotel is the only five-star in the city with a direct seafront," Nimal Perera, a top finance official in the Vallibel group was quoted as saying soon after buying into the firm.

"And it is completely debt free."

Sri Lanka's State Run Provident Fund Buys 10% of Lighthouse Hotel, Galle

18th March 2010 www.lbo.lk

Sri Lanka state-run Employees Provident Fund of private citizens had bought a 10 percent stake in Lighthouse Hotel, a unit of the Jetwing leisure group, a stock exchange filing said.

NDB stockbrokers said the EPF, the country's largest retirement fund, had bought 4.6 million shares of Lighthouse.

The hotel is part owned by Sri Lanka's Hayleys group and was initiated as part of a joint thrust into the leisure sector.

Hayleys is now going it alone and acquired Continental Hotel, Colombo's oldest five star rated hotel earlier this month.

Sri Lanka's Hayleys Group Buys Ceylon Continental Hotel. Deal Boosts Market Sentiment

12th March 2010, www.sundaytimes.lk

Colombo's 5-star Ceylon Continental Hotel was sold on Friday morning to the Hayleys Group, boosting the indices and the investor confidence, analysts said.

Nahil Wijesuriya, Chairman Hotel Services PLC, the holding company of Continental sold 51% out of the 75% he owns through a Singaporean incorporated firm to Hayleys.

“We are left with 24% and we see a huge upside potential with the involvement of the Hayleys Group, in this hotel," Mr. Wijesuriya said, adding that 51% was sold for Rs 1.9 billion.

This transaction which was done through five negotiated deals before10 am saw more than 90 million shares trade at Rs 90, pushing the indices up.

The All Share increased by 0.33% to 3844.84 with Milanka seeing a 0.11% increase to 4432.8 at close while the turnover boosted to Rs 2.8 billion (DEC).

Nahil Wijesuriya Explores Print Media Business in Sri Lanka, May Start Wijesuriya Newspapers

20th November 2009, www.dailymirror.lk

One of Sri Lanka's top entrepreneurs yesterday expressed strong 'interest' in starting up his own business newspaper in view of the Wijeya group setting up an independent financial broadsheet.

Business magnate Nahil Wijesuriya, the largest shareholder of the Ceylon Continental Hotel and Chairman of the East West Group, stated that, while he was "very interested in exploring the possible opportunities inherent in venturing into the print media business” he was not able to elaborate further about his plans without "the appropriate preliminary explorations and due diligence being undertaken". He also hinted at naming his new venture Wijesuriya newspapers.

Popular with readers, the Sunday Times and Daily Mirror Financial Times sections were announced as being closed down, according to advertisements by Wijeya Newspapers this week. Online polling of readers in both the Daily Mirror and Sunday Times have shown a majority opinion in favour of continuing the activities of the local Financial Times in some form as these publications, as one poll respondent puts it, "are in line with the finest in journalistic traditions" as well as, as per another poll respondent’s comments, "never intentionally biased and always accurate in its reporting".

Acknowledged for a string of successes on the Colombo Stock Exchange, it is however Mr. Wijesuriya's achievements in entrepreneurship, particularly in the field of electronic media, which sets him apart from others weighing in on the Financial Times debate. Notably, one of his first endeavours was the setup of the country's first 24-hour English TV station, ETV, which was later sold to the EAP Group, owners of Sinhala TV channel Swarnavahini. Similarly, his most recent efforts have also entailed starting-up the People's Media Network (formerly fully owned by East West Group and comprising Radio 1 and TV 2), of which the frequencies were recently leased out to the state-owned Independent Television Network and re-branded as Prime Radio and Prime TV, the broadcaster's first local offering in the English medium.

Mr. Wijesuriya’s advent to print media would make him the only Sri Lankan business tycoon who has ventured into all three mainline communication mediums - Radio, Television and Print.