Pretax profit fell 1% to Ft 2.47 billion ($12.2 million) from Ft 2.50 billion a year earlier, Budapest-based Danubius Hotels Nyrt said in a statement to the stock exchange today. Danubius is eastern Europe’s second-largest hotelier by market value behind Poland’s Orbis SA, with units in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and London. The company said that while a weaker forint pushed revenue higher, it hurt profit. The euro has risen 3.5% against the forint in the past year. The company lost Ft 2.1 on interest and the exchange rate compared with Ft 934 a year ago. Sales for the period were Ft 37 billion, up 13% from Ft 32.6 billion a year ago, the statement showed. Shares of Danubius have risen 6.6% this year, valuing the company at Ft 51.6 billion. They were up 1.6% to 6,230 forint at 1:04 p.m. in Budapest. (Bloomberg)