Land developer San Far Property Ltd (三發地產) has acquired management rights over Taoyuan Hotel (桃園大飯店) after winning more than half of the seats in the board directors’ election yesterday.
Taoyuan Hotel’s pace of expansion may accelerate under the management of San Far, a company official said, citing the listed land developer’s expertise in land evaluation and construction.
San Far chairman Chung Chun-jung (鍾俊榮) has been leading the three investment companies under the group in purchasing shares of Taoyuan Hotel since February, with the group currently holding about a 52 percent stake in the hotel operator.
Taoyuan Hotel held an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting yesterday to elect new board members. Excluding the four seats reserved for independent directors, San Far-related personnel and companies won four of the seven seats on the board of directors, and two of the three spots for supervisors.
The new board elected Yang Hsien-ling (楊顯玲) — the representative of an investment company under San Far and the wife of Chung — chairperson, replacing Greg Chang (張志誠), who still holds a seat in the board.
“We expect board members from both sides to create synergy for Taoyuan Hotel,” Chang told reporters after the shareholders’ meeting.
Chang said the hotel’s original management team lacks expertise in scouting for new land, but with San Far joining the firm, it may help accelerate Taoyuan Hotel’s plan to launch a second hotel in the next two years.
Taoyuan Hotel’s sales last year grew 3.67 percent year-on-year to NT$259.02 million (US$8.66 million), with room revenue — which accounted for more than 60 percent of sales — expanding 10 percent, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
Net profit last year reached NT$30.78 million, or NT$1.36 per share, little changed from NT$30.31 million, or NT$1.38 per share, in 2011.
Occupancy rates have stayed high over the past few years at more than 90 percent. However, without an expansion plan, the high occupancy rate indicated limited growth momentum for Taoyuan Hotel.
Chinese visitors accounted for more than 60 percent of the hotel’s guests, most of whom travel with tour groups. The hotel’s average room rate stayed at less than NT$2,000 last year, data showed.
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