Millennium & Copthorne boosts its profits by 36% in 2006

Hotel group Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) saw pre-tax profit rise by a massive 36% last year, its strongest performance since going public in 1996.

The company, which operates 108 hotels around the globe, hit a pre-tax profit of £130.2m as its revenue per available room rose 8.1%. Turnover rose 6% to £646.3m. 

M&C chairman Kwek Leng Beng said: "In the first six weeks of 2007, trading has continued to be in line with the positive trends of 2006 with revenue per average room growth of 10.5%.

"We remain confident, therefore, of a successful outcome to the year as a whole."

The group hopes to increase the number of rooms at the Copthorne chain of hotels with many existing properties offering redevelopment opportunities, Kwek added.

"The Manchester Copthorne, for instance, should be suitable for redevelopment to take advantage of the transformation of the city where the supercasino will be located,” he said.

New chief executive officer Peter Papas will join the board on 1 March, succeeding Tony Potter, who left the company in October after seven years.

Millennium & Copthorne sees strong growth in USA and Asia during first half >>

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By Daniel Thomas

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