Sol Meliá is looking for a shining star

After coming unwillingly apart at the seams, the sun might be breaking through at last for Sol Meliá. All through the year, the financial situation of this major hotel chain has been a cliffhanger. The numbers posted in the first half of the year speak volumes of the impact sustained as a result of the ongoing crisis in the tourist sector. According to Spanish media outlets, the company’s revenues dipped by 3.3 percent, a loss of up to 477.7 euros.

The chain’s books barely logged 3.8 million euros worth of gross profits in the first six months of 2002, a 92.8 percent downturn compared to the 52.65 million euros reaped in the same period the year before. Among the causes behind this slowdown, the top of the list is dominated by the worldwide shrinkage of the leisure industry following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the economic meltdown in Europe and the U.S. The devaluation of Latin American currencies is also counted among the blow dealing factors.

“Sol Meliá has major connections with Latin America, and given the current status quo people prefer to stay in Spain rather than traveling there to the Caribbean,” the specialized firm Crédit Lyonnais commented recently.

But rainfall lets up sooner or later. That’s the hope everybody clings to. By the end of the third quarter, Sol Meliá netted 31.4 million euros good for a 66.9 percent over the first nine months of 2001. Sales, though, dropped 1.4 percent down to 784.4 million euros.

Average revenues per room picked up some steam by the end of September after spiraling down 7.7 percent in the first half of the year. This index fell just 6.2 percent also compared to the same span of time in 2001.

Resorts on the Canary and Balearic islands, as well as in Tunisia –added to Sol Meliá after the Tryp buyout- have been reportedly hit the hardest during the past season as a result of trickling tourist turnouts.