Jetwing Symphony, a Sri Lankan hotel chain firm, started trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange on Friday after listing a 10 percent stake, and said it was likely to incur an up to 250 million rupees ($1.6 million) loss this year. The company, the 297th to be listed on the local bourse, raised 753 million rupees through the listing to settle part of its debt.

Chairman Hiran Cooray said 2018 would be a year of consolidation and reducing debt for the company. "We can't see financial return coming in. There is a possibility of financial returns starting to coming from 2019. This year, there will be a loss of 200 million to 250 million rupees due to interest payment and depreciation," he told Reuters at the bourse soon after the shares started trading.

The company, which runs five hotels in tourist hot spots in the island nation, had borrowed around 3 billion rupees to develop three properties.

Copyright Reuters, 2018