M&C hit by UK and US slowdown
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels said at its annual general meeting in London last week that it had experienced difficulties in its UK and US business in the past few weeks.
It added that it remained cautious on the immediate outlook but said it expected business to improve in the second half of the year.
Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said that since the company reported record year-end results in March it had experienced a slowdown in the USA, particularly in New York, while its business in Britain had been hit by foot-and-mouth disease, resulting in a fall in UK tourism.
He said it had, however, continued to experience growth in most of Asia.
The company, which operates 88 hotels worldwide, said its revenue per available room during the first three months of the year increased by about 5% in the UK. In Continental Europe it increased by 9.6%, in the USA by 4.5%, in Australasia by 3.1% and in Asia by 12.9%.