Warimpex's results below expectations due to Ukrainian crisis

Warimpex, a WSE-listed company and investor in the hotel sector recorded a €10.8 million net loss for the first six months of the year, a slight improvement compared to H1 2012 ( when it lost €12.5 million), the company announced. Revenues from fully consolidated hotels declined by 9 percent year-on-year to €31 million – and by 4 percent including all joint ventures. EBITDA fell by 5 percent to €7.7 million and EBIT dropped from €5.2 million to €-1.4 million. "These decreases are mainly due to decreased earnings from the sale of properties and losses on remeasurement in Russia, which account for a total loss of around €3 million," the firm stated. Due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and weaker ruble, prices (in €) of the hotel rooms in Russia and the number of Russian and Ukrainian tourists in the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary have decreased. The company invests in luxury hotels in different markets, including Poland, Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The firm sold three of its hotel properties: Palace, Le Palais and Savoy, the latter one in 2013. Warimpex is planning to build a business building in Kraków and revitalize the one in Erzsebet, Hungary.