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Krishani
Krishani
Nov 10 2026
11Shangri-La’s two Sri Lankan hotels more than tripled their after-tax profit to US $ 6.8 million in the first half of 2026, as the occupancy at Shangri-La Colombo and Shangri-La Hambantota climbed sharply, even while the island’s tourist arrivals dipped, the interim results filed by Hong Kong-listed parent Shangri-La Asia Limited showed.
The profit, which reflects the parent’s 90 percent stake in both properties, compares with US $ 1.9 million a year earlier, while the hotel revenue rose 7.7 percent to US $ 21.0 million, from US $ 19.5 million.
The after-tax margin widened to 32.4 percent, from 9.7 percent and the half-year profit already equals 85 percent of US $ 8.0 million the two hotels earned across 2025.
The weighted average occupancy rose to 52 percent, from 44 percent, an eight-percentage-point gain that was the largest across the group’s destinations, although the average room rate eased 4.8 percent to US $ 140, from US $ 147.
The revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 12.3 percent to US $ 73, from US $ 65, edging past mainland China’s US $ 72 and lifting Sri Lanka off the bottom of the group’s RevPAR rankings.
The improvement contrasts with the national arrivals, which slipped 1.8 percent to 1,146,573, from 1,168,044 when compared to the same period last year, as per the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) data.
The growth of 9.7 percent in January and 16.2 percent in February gave way to declines of 19.8 percent in March and 22.3 percent in April, a slump the SLTDA linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
India grew 21.4 percent to 293,683 arrivals, accounting for just over a quarter of all visitors, while China and Australia rose 15.8 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively. However, Russia plunged 31.1 percent to 77,349, from 112,312, slipping to the third place behind the United Kingdom, while France and Germany fell 13.8 percent and 6.5 percent, leaving the European arrivals 12.8 percent lower overall.
The SLTDA figures show the Indian visitors stayed around five nights on average, roughly half the stay of most European markets.
Although Sri Lanka generated just 2.1 percent of the group’s US $ 993.3 million in hotel property revenue, it contributed 14.8 percent of the segment’s US $ 45.8 million profit. Its US $ 4.9 million improvement was second only to Hong Kong’s US $ 5.7 million. Meanwhile, the revenue from the group’s Sri Lankan investment properties at One Galle Face grew 10.1 percent to US $ 15.2 million, from US $ 13.8 million on higher rents and occupancy, though profit edged up only 2.8 percent to US $ 7.3 million, from US $ 7.1 million.
The residential sales slowed, with the group pinning a drop in property sales revenue to US $ 3.1 million, from US $ 5.6 million, mainly on fewer unit sales in Sri Lanka.
Looking ahead, the group described itself as cautiously optimistic for the second half, while flagging the continuing Middle East conflicts as a source of near-term volatility.
