Dubai – Mubasher: DXB Entertainments on Thursday reported a rise in the number of visits to its theme parks and hotel during the three-month period ended 30 June, whereas revenues decreased slightly.

The leisure facilities company achieved AED 116 million ($31.59 million) in revenues in Q2-18, down 3% year-on-year from AED 120 million ($32.68 million). This was despite a 48% surge in the number of visits to 612,464 in Q2-18 from 414,457 in the same period of 2017.

Average hotel occupancy, for DXB’s Lapita™ Hotel, was 46% in Q2-18 versus 27% in the year-ago period, the Dubai-listed company revealed.

“Continued EBITDA loss improvement due to visitation growth and cost efficiencies,” DXB said in a bourse filing, noting that its loss improvement for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and appreciation (EBITDA) was 39% in Q2-18.

Between January and June, DXB Entertainments’ revenues increased to AED 289 million from AED 279 million in the year-ago period, while EBITDA loss improvement was 63% from H1-17.

“EBITDA has continued to improve from a loss of AED 247 million in the first half of 2017, to a loss of AED 92 million this year; a 63% improvement. This demonstrates that we are getting closer to our target of reaching EBITDA break even,” commented DXB Entertainments CEO and managing director Mohamed Almulla.

The number of visitors to the company’s leisure facilities jumped 46% year-on-year to AED 1.46 million in first six months of 2018.

DXB’s Lapita™ Hotel occupancy more than doubled to 55% in H1-17 from 24% in the same period of the year before.

“The business is making good financial and operational progress under our clearly defined strategy. Our primary focus is on driving footfall, generating repeat visitation through a simplified pricing structure and increasing brand awareness through targeted marketing initiatives,” Almulla added.

The theme-park operator previously reported a decline in its net losses to AED 207 million in Q1-18 from AED 291.8 million in the corresponding period of 2017, after its revenues grew 8% year-on-year to AED 173.2 million from AED 159.9 million.