John Keells Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) recorded a significant improvement to Rs.6.41 billion during the quarter under review, which is a 93 percent increase against the comparative period (2020/21 Q2: Rs.3.32 billion).
The Group’s businesses, except for Consumer Foods and the Supermarket business, recorded a strong growth in profitability compared to the second quarter of the previous year, despite the quarantine curfew which prevailed for six weeks due to the third wave of Covid-19 cases which impacted business activity.
It should be noted that the corresponding quarter in the previous year was a relatively more ‘normal’ quarter, with no Covid-19 related disruptions, where the country benefited from a faster recovery momentum post the outbreak of the first wave with most of our businesses reaching pre Covid-19 levels. Since the gradual easing of the restrictions from end September 2021 and supported by the high vaccination rates of the population, business activity has seen a strong recovery.
The Leisure industry group, in particular, recorded a significant turnaround in performance with the Q2 2021/22 EBITDA almost at break-even levels at a negative Rs.46 million compared to a negative Rs.1.19 billion in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The Maldivian Resorts segment continued its encouraging recovery momentum from the previous quarter where the occupancy at our hotels was higher than anticipated during this quarter, while the forward bookings for the upcoming season indicate a recovery to pre Covid-19 levels.