Shareholders of Formosa International Hotels Corp (
The dividend is the highest in the traditional sector.
The firm, which runs the five-star Grand Formosa Regent Taipei, has reduced capital twice in line with the firm's strategy to expand restaurant operations rather than to purchase land to build more hotels.
It now boasts NT$600 million (US$18.2 million) in capital.
The hotel group saw its occupancy rate shrink to 78.32 percent last year, compared with 83.93 percent in 2005.
The number of guests it received last year was 219,486, down by 6.6 percent from a year earlier.
Chairman Steven Pan (潘思亮) said in a report released yesterday that the hotel sector overall was affected by weak domestic consumption and fewer inbound tourists than expected.
Last year, Taiwan received 3.52 million foreign tourists, up by 4.19 percent from 2005. Japanese, the largest source of the nation's inbound travelers, made 1.16 million visits -- a rise of 3.3 percent.
Both indicators showed that growth rates were slowing compared with their double-digit jumps in 2005.
Formosa International raked in revenues of NT$2.65 billion last year, down by 1.14 percent from the previous year. After-tax profits reached NT$792 million, accounting for 90 percent of the budgeted target.
The Ambassador Hotel also declared a cash dividend of NT$0.8 per share during a shareholders' meeting yesterday.
Guest room revenues reached NT$937 million last year, a decrease of 3.03 percent from the previous year.
Food and beverage sales were NT$1.45 billion, down by 2.11 percent from 2005.
Shares of Formosa International closed down NT$12.5 at NT$315.5 on the local bourse yesterday, while those of the Ambassador Hotel edged up NT$0.1 to NT$35.6.
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