Commitments and contingencies

Belmond Copacabana Palace

In February 2013, the State of Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice affirmed a 2011 decision of a Rio state trial court against Sea Containers Ltd (“SCL”) in lawsuits brought against SCL by minority shareholders in Companhia Hoteis Palace (“CHP”), the company that owns Belmond Copacabana Palace, relating to the recapitalization of CHP in 1995, but the Court reduced the total award against SCL to approximately $27,000,000. SCL further appealed the judgments during the second quarter of 2013 to the Superior Court of Justice in Brasilia. SCL sold its shares in CHP to the Company in 2000. Years later, in 2006, SCL entered insolvency proceedings in the U.S. and Bermuda that are continuing in Bermuda. Possible claims could be asserted against the Company or CHP in connection with this Brazilian litigation that has to date only involved SCL, although no claims have been asserted to date.

As a precautionary measure to defend the hotel, CHP commenced a declaratory lawsuit in the Rio state court in December 2013 seeking judicial declarations that no fraud was committed against the SCL plaintiffs when the shares in CHP were sold to the Company in 2000 and that the sale of the shares did not render SCL insolvent. Pending rulings on those declarations, the court granted CHP an injunction preventing the SCL plaintiffs from provisionally enforcing their 2011 judgments against CHP, which judgment was subsequently reversed on appeal in May 2014. In September 2014, CHP sought reconsideration from the appellate court of this decision, but the court dismissed its request, resulting in the return of the declaratory lawsuit proceedings to the Rio State Court.

Management cannot estimate the range of possible loss if the SCL plaintiffs assert claims against the Company or CHP, and Belmond has made no accruals in respect of this matter. If any such claims were brought, Belmond would continue to defend its interests vigorously.

Ubud Hanging Gardens

In November 2013, the third-party owner of Ubud Hanging Gardens in Bali, Indonesia dispossessed Belmond from the hotel under long-term lease without prior notice. As a result, Belmond was unable to continue operating the hotel and, accordingly, to prevent any confusion to its guests, Belmond ceased referring to the property in its sales and marketing materials, including all electronic marketing.

Belmond believed that the owner's actions were unlawful and in breach of the lease arrangement and constituted a wrongful dispossession. Belmond pursued its legal remedies through arbitration proceedings required under the lease. In June 2015, a Singapore arbitration panel issued its final award in favor of Belmond, holding that the owner had breached Indonesian law and the lease, and granting monetary damages and costs to the Company in an amount equal to approximately $8,500,000. Since its receipt of the arbitral award, Belmond has been engaged in the process of enforcing this arbitral award in the Indonesian courts. Starting in April 2014, the Indonesian trial courts have dismissed eight separate actions filed by the owner for lack of jurisdiction due to the arbitration clause in the parties’ lease. The owner has appealed five of these decisions, all of which plead variations on the same facts, of which four have been affirmed by the Appellate Court with two of those affirmed by the Indonesian Supreme Court and the other two await a decision by the Indonesian Supreme Court. The fifth case was reversed in favor of the owner on appeal in October 2014 and affirmed by the Indonesian Supreme Court in December 2016. Belmond has sought review for reconsideration by the Supreme Court. In the meantime, Belmond filed with the Central Jakarta District Court in October 2017, as further support for the enforcement of Belmond’s arbitral claim, the decisions of four Indonesian trial courts enforcing the arbitration provision under the lease and ruling that the Indonesian courts had no jurisdiction over the parties’ 2013 dispute, along with four affirming decisions from the appellate courts and the two from the Indonesian Supreme Court.

Belmond does not believe there is any merit in the owner’s outstanding Indonesian actions and is vigorously defending its rights while it seeks to enforce the Singapore arbitral award. While the Company can give no assurances, it believes that it should ultimately be able to enforce its arbitral award. Given the uncertainty involved in this litigation, Belmond recorded in the year ended December 31, 2013, a non-cash impairment charge in the amount of $7,031,000 relating to long-lived assets and goodwill of Ubud Hanging Gardens and has not booked a receivable in respect of the award.

As supplemental proceedings to its arbitration claim, Belmond commenced contempt proceedings in the High Court in London, England, where the owner resided, for pursuing the Indonesian proceedings contrary to an earlier High Court injunction, and obtained against the owner in July 2014 a contempt order, which subsequently resulted in the court issuing a committal order of imprisonment for 120 days. The owner left England before the court order was issued and has not yet served the sentence.

Belmond Hotel das Cataratas

In September 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management notified the Company that it was denying the Company's application to extend the term or reduce the rent under the lease for Belmond Hotel das Cataratas, which was entered into in 2007. Belmond had applied for the amendment in 2009 based on its claim that it suffered additional unanticipated and/or unforeseeable costs in performing the refurbishment of the hotel as required by the lease and related tender documentation in order to raise the standard of the property to a five star luxury standard.

Prior to August 2014, with the agreement of the Ministry, the Company had been paying the base annual rent without an annual adjustment for inflation as provided for in the lease, pending resolution of Belmond’s application. Throughout this period, the Company had expensed the full rental amount and has fully accrued the difference between the rental charge and the amount actually paid. Based on the Ministry’s decision denying any relief, the Ministry directed the Company that it would henceforth assess rent at the contractual rate, which has been included in the table of future rental payments as at December 31, 2017, and that it was required to pay the difference between the contractual rent and the rent that had been actually paid. On March 20, 2015, the Ministry provided notice to the hotel that an aggregate amount of approximately R$17,000,000 ($5,139,000) was due on March 31, 2015 as a result of its rejection of any relief sought by Belmond.

The Company appealed to the Ministry to reconsider its decision on both procedural and substantive grounds. Pending this requested reconsideration and exhaustion of administrative remedies, the Company did not pay to the Ministry the amount claimed. The Company filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court in Paraná State in August 2016 against the Government of Brazil regarding the Ministry’s failure to properly consider and modify the lease concession for Belmond Hotel das Cataratas. The Federal Court granted the Company’s request for an injunction against the Government enforcing its claim and granted the Company’s request for a 25% preliminary reduction in rent, pending a decision on the merits, which the Superior Court upheld on appeal in a decision rendered in September 2016. The Government appealed to a three-judge panel of the Superior Court, which upheld the decision of the Federal Court in favor of the Company in a judgment rendered in January 2017.

On October 17, 2017, the Federal Court issued a decision on the merits denying in part the Company’s claim for modification of the lease concession. The Court ruled although the lease is an administration agreement rather than a simple commercial lease, the Company had not overcome its burden of proof to show that a modification was justified. The Court further ordered that the Company must pay the stated rent in the lease rather than the reduced rent set by the Federal Court in September 2016. The Court also revoked the injunction issued in September 2016 that had been subsequently affirmed on appeal prohibiting the Federal Government from pursuing a claim against the Company to recover the difference between the stated lease rent and the amounts the Company actually paid during the period from 2009 to 2014. The Company appealed this decision and requested injunctive relief enjoining the Government from enforcing the decision of the Federal Court pending a hearing on the appeal. On December 22, 2017, the Federal Superior Court denied the Company's request for an injunction and affirmed the lower court's partial decision on the merits. As a result, the Federal Government could seek immediately to enforce its claim for allegedly unpaid lease obligations. The Company has reserved against this claim, and this accrual as at December 31, 2017 totaled R$25,174,000 ($7,610,000). The Company does not believe that any loss above the amounts accrued is likely. The Company intends to vigorously contest the remaining issues in front of the Federal Court, particularly the matter of proving that a modification of the lease concession is warranted under the circumstances.

Belmond Miraflores Park

The Company is contesting a claim against Belmond Miraflores Park Hotel (“BMP”) by the municipality of Miraflores in Lima, Peru, where BMP is located. The municipality alleges that BMP has generated noise and vibrations in violation of municipal nuisance ordinances resulting in the disturbance of certain apartment owners in an adjoining residential building. The local administrative court ruled in favor of the municipality, and levied a nominal fine and issued an order for injunctive relief that included the potential closure of BMP pending the elimination of the noise and vibrations. In March 2016, after the administrative court’s ruling was affirmed at the trial court and subsequently, the appellate court level, BMP appealed to the Supreme Court of Peru. Enforcement of the ruling of the appellate court has been stayed pending the Supreme Court appeal. On June 29, 2017, the Supreme Court issued a decision accepting BMP’s appeal rather than, as BMP had expected, summarily affirming the appellate court decision. Consequently, BMP expects that the Supreme Court will issue its opinion on this matter in the latter half of 2018. Management believes that the risk of closure of BMP is remote because BMP will have completed its remediation by the time the Supreme Court issues its decision and expects to be in compliance with municipal nuisance ordinances at that time. BMP has other alternatives that it could pursue to resolve this matter if BMP is not compliant by the time of the Supreme Court decision. Accordingly, management does not believe that a material loss is probable and no accrual has been made in respect of this matter.

Cupecoy Village Development N.V.

In July 2015, Cupecoy Village Development N.V. ("Cupecoy") received notification from the tax authorities in Sint Maarten of an intention to issue tax assessments for periods 2007-2010 in respect of wages taxes, social security, turnover tax and penalties, which Belmond believed indicated a maximum possible loss of $16,500,000. Belmond believed that the report received from the tax authorities contains a number of material miscalculations and misinterpretations of fact and law. The Company had provided a written response to the tax authorities disputing their assessment and expected the resolution of this dispute to result in only an immaterial cost. However, the tax authorities consistently failed to respond or otherwise engage with Belmond or Cupecoy and therefore the Company gave the tax authorities notice that it intended to wind up Cupecoy, which the Company did after receiving no response from the authorities to this notice. In October 2016, following our application to the court, Cupecoy was declared technically insolvent in light of the 2015 tax claim, at which point the Company determined that any liability in respect of Cupecoy was effectively discharged. A final bankruptcy declaration was issued in the first quarter of 2017.

"Cipriani" Trademark

In May 2010, after prevailing in litigation at the trial and appellate court levels, Belmond settled litigation in the United Kingdom for infringement of its U.K. and Community (European wide) registrations for the “Cipriani” trademark. Defendants paid the amount of $3,947,000 to Belmond in March 2010 with the balance of $9,833,000 being payable in installments over five years with interest. Belmond received the final payment in the amount of $1,178,000 in June 2015.

Subsequent to Belmond’s success before the U.K. courts, there have arisen a number of European trademark opposition and infringement cases relating to Belmond "Cipriani" and "Hotel Cipriani" Community trademarks. These include an ongoing invalidity action filed by Arrigo Cipriani in the European Trade Mark Office against Belmond’s "Cipriani" Community trademark. To date, Belmond has successfully rebutted this challenge at every level of administrative appeal, including before the EU General Court in Luxembourg which issued a decision on June 29, 2017 dismissing the Arrigo Cipriani appeal and ordering that appellant pay the costs of the court and the Company. Belmond has recently been successful in securing the cancellation in Portugal of a trademark application filed by an affiliated company of the Cipriani family for “Cipriani”. Belmond has also been successful in obtaining cancellations of "Cipriani" trademark applications made by the Cipriani family's corporate entity in Russia.

In addition, there are a number of ongoing trademark disputes with the Cipriani family in Italy: in January 2015, the Cipriani family and affiliated entities commenced proceedings against Belmond in the Court of Venice, asserting that a 1967 agreement pursuant to which the family sold their interest in the Hotel Cipriani constituted a coexistence agreement allowing both the Company to use “Hotel Cipriani”, and the Cipriani family to use “Cipriani”. In November 2017, the Court rejected the family's complaint and awarded costs to the Company. This decision was not subsequently appealed. In August 2015, pursuant to a separate claim filed by the Cipriani family, the Court of Venice ruled in favor of the Cipriani family, determining that its use of the full name (rather than just an initial with the family's surname), would not constitute infringement of the Company’s registered trademark. This ruling was overturned on appeal in favor of the Company on November 30, 2017. The Cipriani family has appealed this decision before the Italian Supreme Court, and in a separate filing to the appellate court has requested the reconsideration of that court's decision. While Belmond believes it has a meritorious case, Belmond cannot estimate the range of possible additional loss if it should not prevail in this matter and Belmond has made no accruals in respect of the matter. Separate proceedings brought by Belmond in Spain to defend Belmond’s marks against a use by the Cipriani family and its affiliated entities of “Cipriani” to promote a restaurant have been stayed pending the outcome of the Venice appeal.

Belmond Sanctuary Lodge

On November 28, 2017, Peru Belmond Hotels S.A., the Peruvian hotel joint venture in which the Company holds a 50% interest ("PBH"), received notification of a complaint filed with the Court of Cusco by the Regional Government of Cusco seeking the annulment of the ten-year extension of the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge concession that commenced in May 2015. The Regional Government alleges that the President of the Region at the time of the execution of the extension did not have the sole authority to bind the Regional Government. This lawsuit is substantially similar to a complaint filed by the Regional Government against PBH in January 2015 that was dismissed by the Court of Cusco and, upon appeal by the Regional Government, was affirmed by the Superior Court of Cusco in favor of PBH in June 2016. The Company does not believe that there is any merit to the Regional Government's complaint.

The Company and certain of its subsidiaries are parties to various legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business. These proceedings generally include matters relating to labor disputes, tax claims, personal injury cases, lease negotiations and ownership disputes. The outcome of each of these matters cannot be determined with certainty, and the liability that the relevant parties may ultimately incur with respect to any one of these matters in the event of a negative outcome may be in excess of amounts currently accrued for with respect to these matters. Where a reasonable estimate can be made, the additional losses or range of loss that may be incurred in excess of the amount recognized from the various legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business are disclosed separately for each claim, including a reference to where it is disclosed. However, for certain of the legal proceedings, management is unable to estimate the loss or range of loss that may result from these claims due to the highly complex nature or early stage of the legal proceedings.

Belmond has granted to James Sherwood, a former director of the Company, a right of first refusal to purchase the Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Italy in the event Belmond proposes to sell it. The purchase price would be the offered sale price in the case of a cash sale or the fair market value of the hotel, as determined by an independent valuer, in the case of a non-cash sale. Mr. Sherwood has also been granted an option to purchase the hotel at fair market value if a change in control of the Company occurs. Mr. Sherwood may elect to pay 80% of the purchase price if he exercises his right of first refusal, or 100% of the purchase price if he exercises his purchase option, by a non-recourse promissory note secured by the hotel payable in ten equal annual installments with interest at LIBOR. This right of first refusal and purchase option are not assignable and expire one year after Mr. Sherwood’s death. These agreements relating to Belmond Hotel Cipriani between Mr. Sherwood and Belmond and its predecessor companies have been in place since 1983 and were last amended and restated in 2005.

Capital commitments

Outstanding contracts to purchase property, plant and equipment were approximately $19,464,000 at December 31, 2017 (December 31, 2016 - $7,772,000).

Future rental payments and rental expense under operating leases

Future rental payments under operating leases in respect of equipment rentals and leased premises are payable as follows:



Year ended December 31,		$’000

2018		12,072
2019		10,879
2020		10,919
2021		11,422
2022		9,283
2023 and thereafter		141,832

		196,407

Rental expense under operating leases for the year ended December 31, 2017 amounted to $14,805,000 (2016 - $13,037,000; 2015 - $10,675,000).