Hotel and restaurant operator FDC International Hotels Corp (FDC, 雲品國際) yesterday said it expects revenue to improve further this quarter after posting double-digit percentage growth in the first nine months of the year, thanks to outlet expansions and customer adjustments.
The operator of the five-star hotel Fleur de Chine (日月潭雲品酒店) near Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County and banquet facility Gala de Chine (頤品大飯店) in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊) is holding its initial public offering (IPO) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Nov. 23, with the share price set between NT$50 and NT$55 depending on the book-building results.
“We plan to use the funds [raised from the IPO] on business expansion, as FDC is in talks to set up more banquet facilities,” chairman Emile Sheng (盛治仁) told an investors’ conference.
While it is difficult to duplicate the success of Fleur de Chine — given its ideal and scenic location in Nantou — it is relatively easy to copy the business model of Gala de Chine to new outlets, Sheng said.
The hotel chain plans to add at least one new banquet facility next year, which should boost its overall revenue by 30 percent, Sheng said.
Revenue in the first three quarters totaled NT$956 million (US$30.29 million), an increase of 10.31 percent from the same time last year, bucking a slowdown in the travel and tourism industry, Sheng said.
Net income amounted to NT$163.17 million in the first half of the year, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$2.72, compared with NT$3.02 for the whole of last year and NT$2.35 in 2014, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Sheng attributed the earnings improvement to an increase in independent travelers, who spend more than group tourists.
“We will continue to attract independent guests and reduce our dependence on group tourists,” Sheng said.
The decline in Chinese tourists has had a very limited impact on FDC’s business, because they account for a tiny share of its guests, he said.
FDC intends to deepen its relationship with domestic guests who make up 81 percent of its clientele and underpin food and beverage revenues, he added.
More than 93 percent of Taiwanese traveled at least once last year, making an average of 8.5 trips, government data showed. Together, they generated NT$360.1 billion in tourism revenues and made 178 million visits to different attractions nationwide.
The figures helped sustain FDC’s occupancy rates at 76 percent so far this year, with daily room rates averaging NT$8,045, Sheng said.
The growth momentum may accelerate this quarter, the high season for corporate and family banquets to celebrate Christmas and the year-end, FDC president David Ding (丁原偉) said.
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