Mauritius’ Sun Resorts says Q1 Pretax profit plunges

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) – Mauritius' Sun Resorts posted an 82 percent drop in its pretax profit for the first quarter to 24.5

million rupee ($815,300) after lower tourist arrivals led to a pricing war in the local market, it said on Monday.

The Indian Ocean island state has seen its vital tourism industry struggle in recent years mainly due to a faltering global economy.

"The local industry engaged in a major price war and aggressive promotions from competitors in all markets heavily impacted our performance as we tried to protect our rates," Sun Resorts said in a statement.

Sun Resorts' room occupancy rate fell to 59 percent during the period from 62 percent in the same time the year before, cutting revenue to 1.1 billion rupee.