City Developments’ (City Dev) London-listed hotel arm Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) has announced that its net profit in Q2 rose 23.8 percent to £20.3 million (S$43.6 million), which was mainly attributed to the increase of revenue per available room (RevPAR).
M&C’s revenue increased 20 percent, or 14 percent in constant currency terms, to £190 million from £158.5 million last year.
“Group performance accelerated over the first half of 2010, with a strong improvement in revenue and profits, especially during the second quarter,” said Kwek Leng Beng, chairman of M&C, which was carried in The Business Times. “Recovery in profits demonstrates continuing and effective cost management discipline amid better trading conditions.”
He added that the biggest gains were in Singapore, with a 49 percent and 33 percent increase in RevPAR during Q2 and H1, respectively.
In the first half of this year, M&C’s net profit increased 37.6 percent to £34.4 million from £25 million last year, while revenue climbed 11 percent to £350.5 million from £315.6 million a year ago.
Looking ahead, the company is expecting considerable macro-economic uncertainty for the next 12 to 18 months, especially in the US and Europe.
“We will therefore continue to be cautious in our approach, maintaining a tight rein on costs and testing very carefully our investment plans,” said Mr. Kwek.