Pulse Investments Limited is about to wrap up the first phase of the Villa Ronai Destination Spa project, and will open it up for business by year end or early 2010, the company disclosed this week.

"Ronai would, therefore, be ready to go forward when the recession eases," said Pulse in market filings to the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

It marks real progress on a project that had been on the modelling agency's books for about a decade and which offers Pulse the opportunity to diversify its business line.

Villa Ronai now comprises a spa, three restaurants, seven suites, beautified gardens and other aesthe-tics, and shops.

The "refurbishing, enhancement and refinishing" of the 30,000 square foot building cost Pulse $145 million, financed in part by internally generated resources and a $127-million rights issue that cost the company $6.8 million to raise.

Phase two

The majority, or $112 million of project funds, was spent in the past year, ending June 2009.

The second phase, said Pulse, will add another 38 suites by 2011, positioning the company to market itself internationally as, it said, "a true destination spa".

"The first phase will cater mostly to the local market, but will also look to international business as well," said Pulse.

"There are signs that the economic recovery has now commenced in the major markets, so it is not unrea-sonable to expect that international tourism will respond favourably to a project such as the Villa Ronai Destination Spa, on completion in 2011, by which time world tourism's rebound is forecast to be in full effect," the company added.

The company also released its annual results this week, reporting that while revenue rose 15 per cent to $1.5 billion, net profit was cut in half, falling from $429 million to $223 million.

The poorer profit performance was triggered by a $400-million increase in expenses that climbed above $1.3 billion over the year.

Chairman and principal owner, Kingsley Cooper, announced in a statement accompanying the accounts that the board and top management had taken salary cuts.

In 2008, directors and management fees amounted to more than $17 million; in 2009, the total was $1.

"We are naturally committed to protecting Pulse's cash position and this cut in remuneration was one way of doing this," said Cooper, who runs the agency.

The company's cash was depleted to $10 million at its financial year end in June, just about a sixth of the $62 million on the books at June 2008, due, the company, said to spending on the spa project.

Villa Ronai's positioning in the hospitality market comes alongside a 46 per cent, or $58 million, decline in cash sponsorships that Pulse relies on for revenue, due to a scaling down of the Miss Jamaica Universe pageant.

But: "When this event is taken out of the equation, other cash sponsorship increased by 35 per cent and ticket sales increased by 125 per cent as a result of the expansion of the other events," Pulse said in a statement accompanying its annual accounts.

Pulse at year end had just under $1.2 billion in entitlements and sponsorships in the bag, a $240-million better position than a year ago. The company also grew in value, with a net worth of $1.7 billion, compared to $1.4 billion in 2008.

Pulse, this year, turned 16, but has long passed through that symbolic rite of passage to become Jamaica's premier modelling agency with increasing influence in fashion through its annual Caribbean Fashionweek extravaganza.

lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com