Transcorp Hotels has announced the commencement of work on its 25-storey hotel building project in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. The Chairman of the group, Tony Elumelu, disclosed the plan at an interactive session hosted by the Lagos state government with the business community in Lagos.
He further revealed that the hotel which is located at Glover Road, Ikoyi- a highbrow business district on the Lagos Island- upon completion will be competing with Milan Group’s Intercontinental Hotels, Radisson Blu and Eko Hotels, all in Lagos.
In his words:
“We are planning to build a 25-storey hotel in Lagos… we will see the governor and discuss with him on how we can get their support. We want to do this project to further create jobs for the people of Lagos state.”
The hotel, which is the largest publicly quoted hospitality group,s recently signed an agreement extending the current management of Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja for the next 20 years. The hotel has been managed by Hilton since it began operations in 1987. The two companies are currently working on two other hotel projects in Nigeria.
However, its financial statements for the 12 months ended, December 2017 showed a decline in its baseline. Revenue fell from ₦15.3 billion in 2016 to ₦13.8 billion in 2017. Gross profit also fell from ₦11.4 billion in 2016 to ₦10 billion in 2017. This decline in the result led to a drop in dividend declared, as the company proposed to pay a dividend of 12.45 kobo per share— a sharp fall from the 40 kobo paid for the 2016 financial year.
Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja was originally owned by the Federal Government through NIRMSCO Properties till 2005, when it sold a 51% stake to a consortium of investors led by Transcorp Plc.
In 2007, the name NIRMSCO Properties Limited was changed to Transnational Hotels & Tourism Services Limited (THTSL). THTSL was the hospitality subsidiary of Transcorp. In 2013, Transcorp bought out other consortium members and became the sole owner of the 51 percent controlling shares in THTS.
THTSL was rebranded to Transcorp Hotels and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2015 following the issuance of IPO in 2015. The company also has equity interests in Transcorp Hotels Port Harcourt, Transcorp Hotels Calabar, and Transcorp Hotels Ikoyi, and is a subsidiary of Transcorp Plc.
