The Hindu : New chief for EI Hotels

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 28, 2002

Business

Business

New chief for EI Hotels

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 27. East India Hotels today announced the appointment of P. R. S. Oberoi as chairman following the demise of Rai Bahadur M. S. Oberoi. Currently Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. P. R. S. Oberoi is the son of the patriarch and founder of the Oberoi Group.

The EIH board which met today also appointed S. S. Mukherji, formerly the Deputy Managing Director as Managing Director of the company, with effect from today. The appointments are subject to the approval of shareholders at the annual general meeting.

Other new members of the board are: Nusli Wadia, Rajan Raheja and Christopher Reeves. Mr. Nusli Wadia is chairman of Bombay Dyeing and Britannia Industries, while Mr. Raheja is chairman of Prism Cement. Mr. Christopher Reeves was formerly chairman of Merrill Lynch of the U.K. The company's financial results for 2001-02 show that the net profit after tax has fallen from Rs. 94.82 crores to Rs. 35.57 crores. Total revenue is Rs. 427.33 crores against Rs. 518.31 crores in the previous year.

Commenting on the financial performance, the new chairman, Mr. Oberoi, conceded that business during the year had been disappointing. Several events had an adverse effect on the travel and tourism industry. Recession in the spring and summer of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the attack on the Indian Parliament in December have severely impacted travel to this country. As there had been a drop in revenue due to adverse business conditions, the company had curtailed costs wherever possible, he said.The dividend is being maintained at Rs. 6 per equity share. An amount of Rs. 9.10 crores has been paid as interim dividend on the cumulative redeemable preference shares at the rate of 9.1 per cent. The tax on preference dividend is Rs. 92.82 lakhs.

Earnings per share are Rs. 4.87. The company's foreign exchange earnings are Rs. 254 crores against Rs. 332 crores.

An amount of Rs. 30 crores has been transferred to general reserve and Rs. 5 crores to foreign exchange reserve. Total shareholders fund now stands at Rs. 1,039 crores, according to a company release.

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