Millennium & Copthorne Hotels doubled first quarter profits despite describing the company’s performance as being “mixed”.
Group revenue per available room (revpar) for the first three months of the year fell by 3.1% to £68.48 and hotel revenue was down by 2.1% to £187 million.
Exchange loss due from the stronger pound totalled £11 million, and this reduced the group’s reported hotel revenue.
Performance in London was affected by the partial closure of the Millennium Hotel London Mayfair for refurbishment, together with slower trading at other London hotels.
Total revenue fell by £6 million or 2.7% to £217 million, including a foreign exchange loss of £13 million.
However, pre-tax profit increased by £13 million to £26 million helped by the disposal of two Australian hotels and higher contributions from associated companies.
Group revpar in constant currency in the first 21 days of April decreased by 2.8%, with the level in London down by 16.6%, New York down by 2.8%, regional US down by 3.2% and Singapore down by 6.7%.
The rest of Europe was up by 9.7%, Asia up by 0.1% and Australasia up by 10.4%.
M&C chairman Kwek Leng Beng said: “Performance over the first three months of the year was mixed.
“London declined and Europe is showing indications of weakness, whilst our Millennium Broadway New York hotel continues to hold back overall trading performance in New York.
“More positively, Asia showed some signs of a recovery and New Zealand continued to perform well.
“We are on track to move forward on a number of significant capital investment projects this year, designed to improve returns on group assets. We also remain alert to acquisition opportunities.”