Chip Eng Seng to develop latest Adelaide site as Hyatt Regency hotel

MAINBOARD-LISTED developer Chip Eng Seng Corp, which last year bought a site in Adelaide from an associate of its chief executive, said on Friday that it will build a Hyatt Regency hotel on the plot.

The 1,283 sq m freehold parcel at 51, Pirie Street - in the central business district - will be turned into a 295-room hotel spanning 27 storeys. It is expected to open in early 2023.

Chip Eng Seng has already obtained planning approval for the hotel project, it had disclosed in financial statements released the day before.

Meanwhile, the agreements that have been inked with the relevant Hyatt entities over the hotel's management are not expected to have a significant impact on the net tangible assets and earnings per share for the year to Dec 31, 2019, the group has now added.

Chip Eng Seng bought the land for A$14.5 million (S$14.6 million) in July 2018 from the LGB Group, a company in which CEO Raymond Chia Lee Meng has a 40 per cent interest.

The group owns another hospitality asset in Australia - the adjoined Mercure & Ibis Styles Grosvenor, also in Adelaide, which it bought in March 2018.

Chip Eng Seng on Thursday reported second-quarter net profit of S$3.99 million for the three months to June 30, down from S$12.2 million in the year before. Hospitality was the only segment to post revenue growth, as group turnover fell by 7.2 per cent to S$237.4 million.

The counter shed S$0.01 or 1.42 per cent to S$0.695 on Friday before the latest announcement.