7th May 2015 06:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Millennium & Copthorne Hotels PLC Thursday reported lower profit in its first quarter, despite a rise in revenue and in revenue per available room, as profit was hit by labour cost pressures and a tough comparative in 2014.
The FTSE 250-listed hotels operator said pretax profit in the three months to March 31 declined to GBP19 million from GBP20 million the year before. This was despite an increase in revenue to GBP189 million from GBP175 million and a rise in revenue per available room to GBP61.60 from GBP58.23.
The rise in revenue per available room was driven mainly by a higher average room rate, while revenue growth was due to higher hotel sales from refurbished hotels, acquisitions in 2014, and the opening of the Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel Tokyo in the Ginza district last December, the company said.
However, pretax profit was hit by labour cost pressures in New York resulting from collective bargaining arrangements and also by labour shortages in Singapore, Millennium said, while the sale of the last three remaining Glyndebourne condominiums in the first quarter of 2014 also provided a tough comparative.
"Overall trading results in the first three months of 2015 were in line with the slower trading pattern that the group normally sees in the first quarter and in line with expectations, although it is too early to predict performance for the full year. Management is focused on maintaining profitability by containing costs, especially in Singapore and New York," Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said in a statement.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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