In a good year for everyone all round at Chobe Holdings, employees paid P10.6 million to BURS in income tax, the company paid P23.3 million in VAT while P44.7 million went to shareholders as dividends
KEABETSWE NEWEL
For the 2018 reporting period, ecotourism outfit Chobe Holdings Limited has paid government a staggering P86.2 million in corporate tax, VAT, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and resource royalties, lease rentals and other fees, the company’s annual report reveals.
In corporate tax, the tourism company paid government P32 million for the full year ending February 2019. The money was an increase from the P26.5 million which Chobe paid as corporate tax for the year before.
Chobe made P81.5 million as profit for the year ending February 2019. The profit increased from P71 million made during the previous reporting period. Because of this increased profit, Chobe paid more tax to government. Further, Chobe paid P23.3 million as VAT for the period under review. Previously, P17.5 million was paid as VAT. The company’s PAYE – which is money deducted directly from employees’ salaries and paid to BURS – amounted to P10.6 million, P2 million higher than the P8.2 million paid during the previous reporting period. Government received a further P20.1 million from Chobe as resource royalties, lease rentals, as well as licence and other fees. The money was an increase from P17.5 million paid during the previous corresponding period.
In total, Chobe paid government P86.2 million for the period ending February 2019, which was an increase from P77.3 million paid during the period ending February 2018.
Net salaries, wages and other benefits paid to Chobe employees were at P67.9 million, rising from P58 million paid previously. Shareholders of the company also smiled all the way to the bank after P44.7 million was paid out in dividends.
During the period under review, occupancy increased by 5 percent when compared to the same period in the prior year due to enhanced marketing efforts and an increase in the number of available beds following completion of renovations at Chobe Game Lodge and addition of Dinaka to the group’s portfolio.
The company, through its wholly owned subsidiary Ker & Downey Botswana (Pty) Ltd, acquired the entire issued stated capital of Nelie Investments (Pty) Ltd, a property owning company holding leases for two game farms in the Hainaveld area for a cash consideration of P15.4 million financed using the group’s internal cash resources. These two properties will be used to increase the extent of the land holdings currently held by our Dinaka Conservancy.