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Millennium and Copthorne, the international hotelier which is the first to announce hotel plans for Iraq, saw third-quarter, pre-tax profit slump by almost a third but said “the worst may be behind us”.
The Kensington-headquartered chain is also opening a hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is shopping for sites in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
It plans to own as many as 100 hotels in the Middle East by 2015 but today said it was still suffering a recession-fuelled dive in earnings in the three months to October.
Pre-tax profit fell to £21.9 million in the quarter, down from £30 million at the same time last year.
But chairman and 53% shareholder Kwek Leng Beng said the hotel industry was “moving in the right direction”. He said the rate of decline of revenue per room was slowing and added: “Current bookings are showing some positive momentum in demand. We are encouraged by these improving trends, which suggest that the worst may be behind us.”
