International Hotel Investments plc (IHI), the group that owns the popular Corinthia chain of hotels, has reiterated its confidence that it will “emerge successfully from the difficult situation of the pandemic”.

This prediction came as part of the company’s financial statement for the first half of 2021, which showed a revenue of €34.6 million during the period.

Of this figure, IHI said, only around 70 per cent was related to incomes from hotel activities.

The revenue figure is a rather dramatic decrease of 33 per cent on the same period a year before, when the group recorded revenue of €51.7 million.

However, despite the drop in revenue, the group’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) actually improved in the first half of 2021, representing a loss of €0.8 million, compared to €2.1 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Losses after tax during the period also declined notably compared to the period a year earlier, falling from €30.1 million in the first six months of 2020 to €26.4 million in the same period of 2021.

Since being forced to close or significantly reduce operations in its hotels in March and April 2020 as the pandemic hit, the company has introduced a series of measures intended to dramatically reduce operating costs, particularly targeting payroll

The aforementioned performance, therefore, was hailed by the company as evidencing the effectiveness of these strict control measures.

Additionally, the company was able to tap into various Governmental support schemes and is still benefitting from these schemes in a number of territories, it said.

Looking to the future and providing an outlook, IHI observed that following a period of intermittent lockdowns and significant disruptions, all of its hotels and businesses are now open.

Demand varies regionally, but IHI identified that its best-performing markets are in countries “with strong local markets”, such as the UK and Russia.

Addressing its new projects, IHI said it “remains focused”. Works are underway on Corinthia Hotel projects on site in Doha, Rome, New York, Bucharest, and Moscow, where IHI’s subsidiary companies are involved as development partners, technical services providers, and hotel operators.

In Malta, the group has submitted plans for the building of a low-lying, highly landscaped resort for the site formerly known as Hal Ferh.