The commercial operation of Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited (UMPL) is likely to put a significantly efficacious impact on the cashbook of one of its parent companies – Unique Hotel and Resorts PLC – as well as its bottom line.
Besides, the unconsolidated profits of Unique Hotel are also expected to grow further in the coming quarters owing to the ease of the inherent business risk of the hospitality management industry, as per an equity report of EBL Securities Limited.
The country’s leading hotel and hospitality management company announced that Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited, a joint venture entity among Unique Hotel, Strategic Finance Limited, Nebras Power Investment Management BV (Nebras), and GE Capital Global Energy Investment BV (GE), has successfully been connected to the national grid and received back-feed power on June 25.
Based on its first nine-month financial report, EBL Securities has projected that Unique Hotel, the owner of The Westin Dhaka and the pioneer of establishing Five Star hotel in private sector, will post an impressive 73.6 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue in FY23
The publicly traded company has also been giving handsome cash dividends to shareholders since its listing in 2012.
The company is expected to increase its dividend payout in line with its probable earnings growth in the coming years, EBL Securities noted.
Unique Hotel secured an excellent year-on-year profit growth in the first nine months (Jul’22-Mar’23) of the fiscal year 2022-23.
The company reported Tk 163.6 crore in net profit in the July-March period of the just concluded fiscal, which was nearly 70 per cent higher than the profit of Tk 96.2 crore in the same period a year ago.
During the period, its revenue was Tk 295 crore, which was Tk 168 crore in the same period of FY22.
The listed company’s earnings per share (EPS) surged to Tk 5.56 at the end of the first three quarters of FY23 from Tk 3.27 at the end of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Its EPS for the January-March quarter of the fiscal 2022-23 was Tk 4.04, up from Tk 3.00 for the same quarter last year.
The company’s earnings increased due mainly to its gains from the sale of ordinary shares in the subsidiary company – Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited, the listed company said in its latest financial statement.
The hotel and hospitality management company reported a net asset value (NAV) per share of Tk 89.03 as on March 31, 2023, which was Tk 84.91 till June 30, 2022.
Unique Hotel and Resorts paid a 15 per cent cash dividend to its general shareholders for the year ended in June 2022, up from 10 per cent given for the previous fiscal year.
The company’s EPS for the fiscal year 2021-22 was Tk 3.20, up from Tk 1.32 for the previous fiscal.
As per EBL Securities study, Unique Hotel had completed the 2nd and 3rd phases of share transfer of Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited (UMPL) to Nebras in March this year which generated a capital gain of Tk 112 crore.
The contribution of this capital gain to the company’s EPS in Q3 of FY23 was 80.7 per cent or Tk 3.26.
Furthermore, the 4th phase of the share transfer will contribute Tk 1.10 to the company’s EPS in the coming quarter, as per EBL Securities report.
Upon the completion of the share transfer, the listed firm will hold around 51 per cent of ordinary shares of UMPL as a sponsor company.
UMPL is developing a Gas/R-LNG based combined cycle power generation facility of 584 MW (net) capacity on Build-OwnOperate (BOO) basis under Private Sector Power Generation Policy of Bangladesh.
The approximate total project cost is $520 million. Recently UMPL signed an agreement for a foreign loan of $463 million with lenders for a period of 15 years to meet the debt requirement of the project.
It has also executed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) with Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL) for 22 years.
Under the deal, BPDB will purchase electricity from the proposed plant at a cost of Tk 5.45 per unit or Tk 3.16 per unit if the government supplies natural gas to the plant instead of costly LNG.
Unique Hotel previously owned 62.76 per cent of the ordinary shares of UMPL. However, an agreement has been executed among Unique Hotel, Strategic Finance Limited (SFL) and Nebras Power Investment Management BV where Unique will transfer 11.76 per cent of the ordinary shares to Nebras in four phases upon relevant approval at a net consideration amount of around $23.9 million.
So far, the third phase of share transfer has been completed, with a total of 11.27 per cent shares having been transferred.
Unique Hotel and Resorts shares closed at Tk 72.10 per share on the DSE trading floor on Tuesday.
Incorporated in 2000, Unique Hotel and Resorts received approval to operate business under the brand name ‘The Westin Dhaka’ in 2007.
The company also owns the five-star Sheraton hotel in the capital’s Banani, and the HANSA in Uttara.
