Cresta appoints Morulane as new MD
Pauline Dikuelo | Thursday October 19, 2017 18:00
According to a statement issued by Cresta, Morulane, who resumed his duties effective October 9, 2017 will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of Cresta Marakanelo Ltd’s growth strategy and reinforcing the company’s position as a reputable and leading provider of hospitality services in the country and Southern Africa region.
“Morulane brings in a wealth of experience gained from a diverse array of companies and industries. He started his career at Deloitte and has held leadership roles in the mining and financial services sector. Most recently, he was at Botswana Oil Limited where he held the position of general manager –corporate services.”
Late last year, Makaya was suspended with the then chief finance officer (CFO) Valentine Mganga following a suspected potential financial irregularity at the company.
According to the group board chairperson, Maria Nthebolan, investigations on the suspected irregularity are still ongoing.
“Investigations on the matter are still ongoing and cannot share further details as I do not want to prejudice the matter. I cannot exactly say how long it will take for the investigations to be concluded,” she said.
During the six months ended June 30, 2017, the group, which provides hotel and related services in Botswana and Zambia recorded an overall profit before tax of P9.1 million for the period, reflecting a 50% drop from the result recorded in the same period last year.
Nthebolan said the group’s profits halved in the six months to June 2017 as its operations in both Botswana and Zambia were weighed down by low occupancy levels.
She said this performance was largely attributed to pressures facing the industry at large, exacerbated by muted government spending, occupancies and revenue per available room (RevPAR) that experienced a slight year-on-year decline.
Out of the 12 hotels within the group, three hotels incurred losses for the half-year as a result of industry pressures.
However, Nthebolan said various initiatives to increase occupancies as well as contain costs are underway and yielding positive results.