The Board of Pamodzi Hotel Plc has announced the appointment of a new Director following the demise of Board member and Chilubi Member of Parliament Rosario Fundanga.
“In compliance with Section 3.59 of the Lusaka Securities Exchange Listing Rules (“LuSE Rules”), Pamodzi is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Dinesh Jha to its Board of Directors”, read a statement issued by BDO who are Pamodzi’s appointed Company Secretary on 21st February 2019 in Lusaka.
According to the statement, Mr. Jha will serve as a nonexecutive director, effective immediately indicating urgency from the Board to fill up the position. The top tier hotel is currently embroiled in a battle to preserve its market share as its position as a market leader comes under threat by new offerings that have provided consumers of hospitality more options.
However, Mr. Jha steps into Board room that had a management team report total turnover increased of 7.13 percent from ZMW77.5 million to ZMW83.0 million over the same period at the close of the 2018 financial year-end of March 2019. Furthermore, the hotel’s operating profit margin also increased by 11.3 percent from ZMW13.7 million to ZMW15.3 million for the period ended 31st March 2019 thanks to an increase in room segment income and Food and beverage segment income as compared to last year.
Mr. Jha has more than 14 years of experience as a Chartered Accountant with expertise in Strategic Finance, Accounts, Tax, Audit, Risk, and Compliance into Auto & Allied, Agro-Trading, Banking, Manufacturing, Real Estate, and Plantation set up, according to the issued statement. His academic resume shows he holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Calcutta University and is a Licentiate Member of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) and is also certified by the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI).
Investors will be keen to review the 2019 annual performance that is due for announcement in Q2 2020. With the overall contributed Profit After tax increase of 39.7 percent from ZMW1.7 million to ZMW2.4 million in 2019 over the last financial year, Jha and his new “Board friends” will be critically assessing the impact of rise in competition over the 2019 financial year.
