Happy Valley Hotel has declared over E13.2 million dividends to its shareholder, the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) for the 2024/25 financial years.
Happy Valley Board Chairperson (Finance) Muzi Bell said this was an improved financial performance; a combined amount of over E8.86 million and E4.38 million for the years 2024 and 2025, respectively.
This was during a press briefing at the Happy Valley Hotel yesterday where bell stated that the dividend was a portion of the profits that they made.
He also expressed confidence that with clear vision, a robust business model and commitment to innovation and excellence, Happy Valley Hotel would continue to deliver positive results for all stakeholders.
He further stated that many businesses were still struggling and trying to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Happy Valley was actually performing very well at this stage.
Bell said when they look at the performance of 2024 and 2025, they delivered superior profits that were comfortable with the board.
“May I appreciate the Happy Valley enterprise board for their continued confidence and support, to our guests for their loyalty and local employees for their dedication and hard work that make these achievements possible.
Consistently, the management continuously ensured that we deliver superior customer service to our clients. Now, the financial performance of Happy Valley has been very pleasing. Since 2022, when we reported the profit for the first time, there has been growth every other year,” he said.
Further, he noted the several programme of works they had done, including refurbishment of the hotel. He said they had built an additional 60 rooms, which are upmarket for exceptional guest experience and to meet modern business.
He said they were also working to position the conference centre to be also a superior product in the market. He said they were reserving some of the profits to take care of those developments.
He also expressed appreciation to the shareholder for the support in growing Happy Valley as an establishment and as an investment. He said this would translate to the members of the provident fund.
“A few weeks ago, ENPF announced a 10% interest to members and are contributing to that as the Happy Valley Hotel. ENPF is a 100% shareholder having invested in Happy Valley Enterprise t/a Happy Valley Hotel. The standardised and the recent garden rooms with security features ensure that all guests remain safe within the premises
“Looking ahead, we remain confident that our strategic initiatives will continue to deliver long-term value for all our shareholders and strengthen our position in the market. We appreciate the board for their guidance to management and the oversight role they played in formulating and ensuring the implementation of a turnaround strategy,” added Bell.
ENPF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Futhi Tembe echoed Bell. She appreciated the board for ensuring smooth operations.
She said when ENPF bought the hotel, there was a lot of work to be done to smoothen the operations.
Hope was not lost during the Covid-19 period as Happy Valley was the only hotel that operated then under strenuous conditions.
“In 2022, there was a turnaround; the look and feel of Happy Valley had to be changed and a dividend was not declared. We are looking at even bigger dividends in the years to come. We are proud of Happy Valley as ENPF because we are able to give back to our members.
The hotel comes from a significant accumulated loss position following its poor financial performance in the past. In the financial year 2022 the hotel realised a profit for the first time in years. The hotel’s profitability has since then been improving and, as a result, the hotel is now in an accumulated profit position,’ Tembe said.
Eswatini Observer Press Reader
