FIH Regent Group (晶華麗晶酒店集團) may see strong sales growth momentum this year thanks to developments in its luxury shopping business and restaurant renovation.
FIH Regent hotel has targeted 30 percent growth in income from its Regent Galleria (麗晶精品) luxury mall, located in the basement of the Regent Taipei (台北晶華酒店), expecting the mall to help generate annual revenue of NT$500 million (US$16.63 million) for the group.
The forecast NT$500 million, mainly from rent income and sales commissions, could translate into about 10 percent of FIH Regent’s annual consolidated revenue.
For the first eight months of the year, the group posted NT$4.04 billion in consolidated sales, up 9.74 percent from a year earlier, company figures show.
“The pace of growth of the Regent Galleria this year has been in line with internal expectations,” group chief executive officer Amy Hsueh (薛雅萍) told reporters before hosting an annual party for 100 of Regent Galleria’s preferred customers on Thursday.
Hsueh said these customers, with their high level of consumption, are an important driver for Regent Galleria’s sales, with their average spending at the mall already hitting NT$15 million to NT$16 million apiece this year, compared with NT$11 million to NT$12 million for the whole of last year.
Sales of luxury jewelry account for 65 to 70 percent of the mall’s sales, Hsueh added.
Meanwhile, FIH Regent raised the rents of Regent Galleria tenants this year, which may be the other factor driving up the mall’s annual sales, group public relations director Ellen Chang (張筠) said.
In related news, Regent Taipei, which accounts for about 70 percent of FIH Regent’s consolidated sales, has set a growth target of 10 to 20 percent growth for sales at its recently renovated Gallery restaurant and lounge bar.
The Gallery’s sales have averaged NT$6 million a month, the hotel’s figures show.
The renovation plan cost NT$10 million and was aimed at making the space and atmosphere more comfortable for customers and boosting beverage sales, Chang said.
Although the tainted oil scandal has hurt the nation’s food industry, Ambassador Hotel Ltd (國賓大飯店) chief operating officer Frank Lin (林興國) expects hotel food and beverage sales to buck the trend because of the use of high-quality materials.
“Consumers may be more willing to dine out at a restaurant located in a hotel, feeling it is more reliable,” Lin told an investors conference yesterday.
Ambassador Hotel, which operates four hotels under two brands and several restaurants in Taiwan, saw food and beverage sales account for 60 percent of the company’s consolidated sales last year.
The steady demand in the food and beverage sector may help maintain the company’s sales momentum at its year-on-year growth pace in the last half of the year, Lin added.
Ambassador Hotel posted NT$2.27 billion in consolidated sales in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 10.64 percent from the same period last year, company statistics show.
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