Nov 01, 2011 (LBO) – Hotel Developers (Lanka), owners of Hilton Colombo Hotel in the Sri Lankan capital, has paid about 33 percent of gross operating profit as management fees and other charges to the international hotel chain which runs the property. The total amount paid to Hilton Worldwide, formerly Hilton International USA, was 1,371 million rupees from 2001 to 2010, its latest annual report for the year ended March 31, 2010, has revealed.
Hotel Developers chairman T Nadesan said the company is negotiating with Hilton Worldwide to reduce management fees.
Although the management agreement between the company and Hilton expired on December 31, 2007, management fees had been accounted for under the terms of the agreement.
The management of Hotel Developers has called for an extraordinary general meeting on November 21, 2011 over the serious loss of capital in the firm which is saddled with heavy losses and debt.
The firm has incurred a loss of 10.3 billion rupees as at March 31, 2010 with net assets being a negative 4,773 million rupees.
Nadesan attributed the losses to the downturn in tourism owing to the island’s 30-year ethnic war which ended in 2009, undercutting on room rates, management fees and the cost of servicing lo