11th Feb 2016 10:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Dolphin Capital Investors Ltd, which develops of high-end residential resorts in the Eastern Mediterranean, Caribbean and Central America, on Thursday said the opening of the Amanera golf resort at Playa Grande in the Dominican Republic was a "major milestone" for the company.
The Amanera Hotel was at near full occupancy for the Christmas and New Year holidays with an average daily rate of about USD2,000 per room. The golf resort formally opened for paying guests towards the end of November 2015.
However, "severe" tropical rain storms, coupled with "final touches" in construction and landscape, generated some "opening challenges", the company said, although "these have either been or are in the process of being resolved".
The company said Travel + Leisure, Golfweek, FT How to Spend it, Golf Business News, the Sunday Times Travel magazine, House and Garden, CNN and Bloomberg are among the media to have covered Amanera.
Meanwhile, the Amanzoe resort in Greece saw "continued improvement" in 2015, the company said, with final occupancy for the year at 57% and an average daily room rate of EUR1,229. Net operating income doubled at the resort, the company said.
"The opening of Amanera in November was a major milestone event for Dolphin. Against the background of a difficult global economic environment, we are cautiously optimistic regarding an increased number of Villa sales for both Amanzoe and Amanera," Miltos Kambourides, founder of Dolphin and managing partner of Dolphin Capital Partners, said.
Meanwhile, Dolphin said the disposal of its non-core assets is underway. The first tranche comprises Nikki Beach in Greece, Sitia Bay in Crete, Livka Bay in Croatia and La Vanta in Turkey.
Dolphin raised EUR75.0 million in June 2015, following a strategic review which resulted in its assets being separated into core projects and non-core. The review was aimed at narrowing the discount at which the company's shares trade to net asset value, accelerating shareholder returns and focusing on the Amanzoe, Kilada Hills and Kea resorts in Greece, Playa Grande in the Dominican Republic, and Pearl Island in Panama.
Dolphin Capital Partners, a real estate private equity firm, is the company's investment manager.
The company said it had about EUR37 million of "unrestricted" cash on its balance sheet at the end of 2015, ahead of the EUR36 million budgeted and higher than EUR6 million one year earlier.
Restricted cash for use only towards the development of Amanzoe and Playa Grande projects stood at about EUR6 million at the end of 2015.
Interest-bearing loans amounted to EUR232 million at the end of December, versus EUR240 million at the end of June.
Shares in Dolphin Capital Investors were untraded at 11.75 pence on Thursday morning.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Dci Advisors