“We will resume investments, the development of ten two-star hotels over the coming years, we will seek to restructure the loans (the group has EUR35 million in debts) and sell several plots of a few hectares, where we will no longer build,” says Enache.
He adds that GED agreed to the way in which the group has restructured the investment plan and hopes the latter will come with an input considering its funding expertise.
GED, one of the most active investors in the Romanian economy in the last few years, bought a 30% stake in the Continental chain from Czech fund PPF Partners, an investment considered “its largest in Eastern Europe since 1996.”
Continental Hotels is one of the largest hotel groups on the Romanian market, with 14 hotels under its ownership. It expects turnover of EUR21 million this year and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of EUR5 million. Last year, Continental Hotels posted EUR19.4 million in turnover and losses of EUR4.8 million, according to the Finance Ministry.
(English version by Daniela Stoican; Editing by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu and Radu Bostan)