Profits down for hotels group
The Millennium and Copthorne Hotels group, which includes Copthorne sites at Brierley Hill and Birmingham, saw profits and revenue fall in the three months to the end of September.
Revenue fell from £217 million a year before to £211m with revenue per room also down 0.1 per cent to £77.66.
The group's pre-tax profit was down by 28 per cent to £36m.
For the first nine months the pre-tax figure is £10m lower at £98m, but revenue is £18m higher at £615m and revenue per room up 2.3 per cent to £71.43.
The main contributor to the reduction in revenue per room in the quarter was the performance of the group's Asian hotels, where it fell by 9.6 per cent across Singapore and Rest of Asia combined.
Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said: "The Singapore market is unlikely to stabilise until the end of 2017 as hotel room inventory continues to grow. In Taipei, visa restrictions continue to inhibit the growth of mainland Chinese visitor numbers. Millennium Seoul Hilton is still recovering from lower visitor numbers after the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in May.
"These factors, together with slower economic growth in China and higher operating costs, will continue to put pressure on revenue and profit in Asia. Trading conditions elsewhere were more benign although we remain cautious about the outlook in New York and London."
Most of the group's European hotels outside London performed better than last year over the nine month period.
In August the group completed the acquisition of a long leasehold interest in Hard Days Night Hotel in Liverpool for £13.8m. The Beatles-inspired hotel, which contains 110 rooms and suites, is located within the popular Cavern Quarter of the city.
The group has 125 hotels offering 34,517 rooms.
