2008 has been an exciting year as is usual in the Orion environment. Our continuous quest to achieve our long term vision of an ORION experience in 50 countries has so far taken us to 3 countries namely South Africa, Swaziland & Lesotho.
We visited a number of African Countries and are also negotiating with various parties on possible acquisitions in North America, UK & Europe. A delegations from India, Ghana and Nigeria have visited us as part of our continuous discussions to set up Orion Group in those countries. Orion Group Ghana is being set up at the moment in partnership with Ghanaian business leaders. The above activities indicate strongly that our international expansion plans are taking root and that a real deal will materialize soon
The international financial crisis will affect South Africa severely in 2009. We at Orion are bracing ourselves for difficult trading conditions by preserving our cash reserves, doubling up on our daily efforts and to look for growth opportunities.
2008 Highlights
- The takeover of Orion Hotel Wartburg
- The purchase of Mountain view shopping centre in Gordons Bay Western Cape
- Major refurbishments of the conference centres at Safari Lodge
- New record turnover months for a number of our hotels
- Restructuring of our finance & OFM departments
- Orion Retail (Spar & Tops) achieving record turnovers & profitability
- Orion Business solutions building a firm business model around team coaching interventions
- University of Johannesburg and Orion business solutions coaching academy joint venture growing strongly
- Relationships with our Trade Unions remains strong
- Completion of Orion Towers apartments & transfer of most to buyers
- Good progress on Bethlehem, Promenade, Orion centre & Wartburg projects
- Significant efficiency improvements in hotel division food & beverage departments
- Most turnover targets have been met or exceeded
2009 Forecast
- Breaking ground in Bethlehem, Promenade centre & Orion centre
- Concluding a BEE transaction
- Acquisition of more hotels
- Commencing business in at least one new country
- Streamlining all business processes
- Growing the total gross assets to R1 Billion
- Raising capital for acquisition by way of refinancing assets and new share capital
It’s happening at Orion because we continuously strive to create stakeholder value through our innovation drives and diversified activities
Our values of honesty, integrity, productivity, innovation, generosity, recognition and dignity are our guiding principles particularly in these challenging times.
Our business will continue to become better and better every day.
Thank you for taking and interest in the ORION GROUP
Franz Gmeiner
Group CEO
fgmeiner@oriongroup.co.za
