London closure leads to Mandarin profits slump

The six-month closure of the 200-bedroom Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel in London led to a 16% fall in interim profits at parent company Mandarin Oriental.

The luxury hotel group reported pre-tax profits of $18m (£11.8m) in the six months to30 June, down from $21m (£13.9m) in the first half of 1999.

Turnover was up by 15% to $187m (£123m), from $163m (£108m) in 1999.

"The reopening of the London hotel and the addition of the Rafael hotels will contribute positively to results," chairman Simon Keswick said, "although this will be partially offset by higher finance costs."

He added: "The group's results in the second half of the year will also benefit from the continued recovery in Hong Kong."

Mandarin Oriental completed its acquisition of the Rafael hotel group in May for $148m (£98m). The deal increased its overall number of hotel bedrooms from 5,800 to 7,000.

The 542-bedroom Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong increased its occupancy to 76% in the first six months of 2000, compared with 62% in 1999. Occupancy at the 887-bedroom Excelsior hotel in Hong Kong was 86%.

Average room rates at the two hotels remained below those achieved before the Asian economic downturn.

The group's hotels in Manila and Jakarta were affected by economic uncertainty. However, at the 371-bedroom Kahala Mandarin Oriental in Hawaii, occupancy rose from 56% to 67%.