Poor start to year cuts back profitsat Thistle Hotels
Difficult trading conditions in the first 12 weeks of the year pushed down interim pre-tax profits at Thistle Hotels by almost £3m.
The four-star hotel group said last week that its pre-tax profits for the 28 weeks to 9 July had fallen to £29.4m, down 9% on last year's £32.3m. Turnover climbed 4.3% to £161.1m.
Profits were affected by the new FRS15 accounting standard, the company said.
Chairman David Newbigging said: "The results were encouraging, with strong performances in both London and the regions over the final 16 weeks of the period, more than offsetting the difficult start to the year."
He added: "The second half-year has started well, with like-for-like turnover growth in the first eight weeks more than 10% up on last year."
In London like-for-like turnover increased by 6.8% to £105m in the first half of 2000, compared with £98.3m in the same period last year.
Revenue per available room increased by 8.1% to £60.72(1999: £56.18), with occupancy up from 75.8% to 78.8% and average room rate up from £74.12 to £77.05.
The company spent £22.3m in the capital. Just under 1,100 bedrooms were refurbished, leaving about 900 to be refurbished over the next 12 months.
In the regions, turnover was unchanged from last year at £56.1m. Revenue per available room was down 2.5% to £35.06 (1999: £35.95), with average room rate up 1.6% to £54.28. (1999: £53.42). Thistle spent £15.5m in the provinces.
- Thistle is about to offer broadband high-speed Internet access in eight of its London hotels.
by Louise Bozec
