This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
LANTERN Hotels Group has posted an 11.3% drop in operating EBITDA to $4.569 million, as it completed the divestment of its entire portfolio in the half.
The final two hotels, the General Gordon and Crown Hotels, are expected to settle in March.
“Going forward the Board will rapidly explore options for the Lantern shell, while minimising ongoing costs,” the group said.
The divestment program is expected bring a total of $206 million from hotel sales at a 34% premium to book value over the past 12 months.
Gaming hotels are expected to return $137 million to the group on completion, at a 47% premium to book value. Non-gaming hotels netted $69 million at a 14% premium to book value.
Its bank debt of $11.9 million will be fully repaid by March.
Distributions of 9.5cps were paid and declared, with a distribution of 4.5cps expected to be declared in April on the completion of the final sales.
EBITDA increased by 41% in the first half, with total operating revenue up by 20.2% and gaming revenue up by 29.4%.
Lantern has made a $2.2 million provision for estimated wind-down costs.
Australian Property Journal
