[2007-09-14]  Accor's Moroccan arm says H1 profit jumps 69 pct
Risma, the Moroccan affiliate of Europe's biggest hotels group, Accor, reported a 69 percent increase in first-half net profit as financial costs tumbled and growing tourist numbers boosted turnover.

Net profit was 39.3 million dirhams, up from 23.3 million in the same period of 2006, Risma said in a statement on Thursday. Sales grew 12 percent to 421 million dirhams, and financial costs fell to 9 million dirhams from 17 million.

Risma opened new hotels in Marrakesh and Casablanca, part of a wider expansion to meet an expected surge in the number of visitors to the north African country.

The number of tourists to Morocco grew 9 percent to 2.8 million in the first six months of the year.

Risma, whose shares trade on the Casablanca stock market, bought Rabat's landmark Hilton in July for 736 million dirhams and plans to spend 250 million on upgrades to the 269-room hotel. Five more hotels with a total of 934 rooms are under construction in Morocco, it said.


Source: © Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.