Formosa International Hotels Corp (FIHC, 晶華國際酒店集團), which operates Formosa Regent Taipei (台北晶華酒店), yesterday reported its annual net income growth last year slowed to 4.03 percent, from a double-digit expansion recorded the year before, on the impact of fewer inbound Japanese visitors and the hotel’s renovation plan.
FIHC reported a net profit of NT$1.13 billion (US$37.23 million), or NT$10.66 per share, for the whole of last year, up from the NT$1.09 billion, or NT$10.25 per share, that it recorded a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
The 4.03 percent annual growth in net income posted last year was lower than the 12 percent expansion it recorded in 2012.
The number of Japanese visitors to Taiwan last year dropped 2.6 percent from 2012 on their concerns over the sharp depreciation of the yen, which further led to a decline in FIHC’s room revenue in the first half of last year.
Meanwhile, the hotel operator’s plan to renovate its ball rooms and the lobby in the third quarter last year raised operating fees and dragged down sales during the period.
However, the company saw its sales performance and profitability recover in the fourth quarter last year, citing a rebound in inbound Japanese visitors and the rise in sales contributed by its food and beverage operations.
FIHC posted NT$348.32 million, or NT$3.31 per share, in net income during the October-to-December period last year, reaching its highest level in the company’s history, data showed.
The company’s board of directors yesterday planned to distribute a cash dividend of NT$8.27 per share and a stock dividend of 10 percent, with the cash dividend lower than the level of NT$8.79 per share offered last year.
FIHC, which currently owns three hotel brands and operates 14 hotels globally, may retain more cash in the company due to its continuous expansion plan, which runs until the end of 2016.
By the end of 2016, the hotel operator is set to launch three hotels under its world-renowned luxury hotel brand Regent Hotel & Resorts in Porto Montenegro, Montenegro, and in Xian and Chongqing, China.
In addition, FIHC is to open two hotels under its Silks Place (晶英酒店) brand in Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, as well as two new hotels in Taiwan under its medium-priced brand Just Sleep (捷絲旅).
The expansion plan could boost the hotel operator’s total number of rooms to more than 4,000 by the end of 2016, the company’s data showed.
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