Mandarin Oriental profit slumps despite Hyde Park hotel reopening
The Mandarin Oriental hotel group reported a slump in profit today despite the reopening of its Hyde Park hotel, which was closed following a fire last year.
The five-star hotel was badly damaged in the fire in June 2018 and was re-opened in April following a £100m renovation.
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Mandarin Oriental, which owns the hotel in Knightsbridge, posted an eight per cent slump in profit to $641m (£529.27) in 2019 from $700.2m the previous year following the closure of Hong Kong’s The Excelsior and the ongoing renovation at Mandarin Oriental Bangkok.
In its half-year results to 30 June, the company said it swung to a loss of $12.1m attributable to shareholders, compared to $22.2m in the first six months of 2018.
Earnings at the London hotel, which included insurance coverage for loss of profits due to the fire, were higher than venues elsewhere.
Mandarin Oriental said it expects the reopening of its Hyde Park venue, as well as four new hotels and two new management contracts, to continue to improve its financial performance going forward.
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“The closure of The Excelsior and the renovation in Bangkok have led to reduced earnings in the first half of the year, while overall results for the rest of the group were broadly flat,” said chairman Ben Keswick.
“Elsewhere, Mandarin Oriental will benefit from its reopened hotel in London as well as the growing pipeline of new developments.”