Global Premium Hotels Q1 earnings down 4.9%
Singapore
THE continuing decline in hotel room rates put pressure on Global Premium Hotels' (GPH) first quarter results.
Net profit for the three months ended March 31 fell 4.9 per cent to S$3.19 million from the preceding year's S$3.36 million, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Monday.
Revenue for the the mainboard-listed company, which owns the Fragrance Hotel chain, dipped 3.8 per cent to S$13.99 million from S$14.55 million a year ago.
The drop in revenue was mainly due to lower hotel-room rates as the industry saw an increase in the number of rooms and shorter lengths of stay by tourists.
According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), international tourist arrivals here grew 3.4 per cent year-on-year from January to February, compared to the same period last year. But the standard average room rates at local economy and mid-tier hotels fell by 5.3 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively. The revenue per available room also fell 0.1 per cent and 6.1 per cent, respectively.
Earnings per share dipped to 0.3 Singapore cent, from 0.32 Singapore cent the year before.
GPH chairman Koh Wee Meng had, in February, launched a cash offer to take the firm private. The majority shareholder and real estate tycoon said he wanted to help the company cut compliance costs and have more flexibility in managing the business.
Mr Koh's investment holding company, JK Global Capital, had offered 36.5 Singapore cents per share for the shares he did not yet own.
Then, he controlled 71.86 per cent of GP Hotels.
One of Singapore's largest hotel chains, GP Hotels operates 23 economy-tier and mid-tier hotels under the Fragrance and Parc Sovereign brands, with 1,983 rooms in total.
According to JK Global Capital, the cash offer is final and would not be revised.
In the light of this acquisition, GPH applied to the Singapore Exchange on April 19 to delist its shares and on Friday, its board said it was informed by SGX on Thursday that it has no objection to the delisting.
