M&C profits boosted by sale of Singapore assets

Hotels giant Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) today reported a 54 per cent jump in annual profits, boosted by the sale of apartments in Singapore.

The owner of Aberdeen’s Copthore hotel and the Millennium in Glasgow also announced a special dividend of 9.15p a share, lifting its total payout for the year by 67.3 per cent to 22.74p.

For the year to 31 December, M&C posted a pre-tax profit of £263.6 million, up from £171.3m a year earlier, on revenues 35 per cent higher at £1 billion. Revenues per available room grew 3.4 per cent to £69.58.

Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said: “We remain cautiously optimistic about the group’s full-year performance in 2014 despite uncertainty affecting some regions, and poor weather conditions in US and UK in the first quarter.

“The group’s performance will be further impacted by our refurbishment programme and the resulting temporary removal of rooms from inventory.”