East West Properties to sell Weligama Bay Marriot to Singaporean firm

East West Properties PLC has signed a letter of intent to sell the entire stake it owns in its subsidiary, Weligama Hotel Properties Ltd, the property owners of recently opened Weligama Bay Marriot Resort & Spa, to Singapore’s HPL Hotels & Resorts Pte. Ltd. However, the stock market disclosure filed by the company yesterday did not give any indication of the possible sale price. 

Businessman Nahil Wijesuriya and his children own about 85 percent of East West Properties. Sri Lanka’s Employees’ Provident Fund also holds a stake in Weligama Hotel Properties Ltd.

HPL Hotels & Resorts has 12 properties in Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean, with a total of 2,886 rooms, including resorts like Gili Lankanfushi – Maldives and The Boathouse – Phuket.

HPL Hotels & Resorts has also made an offer to invest in and upgrade the colonial-era Grand Oriental Hotel (GOH) that overlooks the Colombo port and belongs to Bank of Ceylon. 

A cabinet spokesperson recently said they are studying HPL Hotels & Resorts’ proposal in this regard.
For the nine months ended December 31, 2017, East West Properties made a net loss of Rs.258 million on revenue of Rs.445 million, up over 100 percent, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The company’s net asset value per share on the same date stood at Rs.8.76. 
The East West Properties share yesterday closed at Rs.15.80, down 20 cents or 1.25 percent.