Millennium & Copthorne checks in revival

HOTELS group Millennium & Copthorne reckons its London hotels are set for a buoyant year as it raises room rates to capitalise on the return of wealthy American tourists and businessmen.

Profitability at its hotels in the capital soared nearly 12% in 2004 with strong trading continuing in the past few weeks.

'We're back at very buoyant levels,' said newly-promoted chief executive Tony Potter. He remains keen to take up new management contracts of hotels around the world but is also open-minded on selling prized assets following the bumper £380m it received for its showpiece New York Plaza - believed to be a record for New York.

The group, which currently operates 11 Copthorne hotels in the UK, has established a separate team to manage the brand and is seeking to partner investors and potential franchised owners to increase the size of the chain by between 10 and 20 hotels over the next three-to-five years.

'There is a high recognition of the Copthorne brand and we want to capitalise on its good name and strong position in the market,' said Potter.

He said that while the majority of the expansion would be through franchised management contracts, he was not ruling out the possibility of joint ventures or some form of equity participation by investors. He added that the group was close to signing two management contracts for two Copthorne hotels in the UK. 'These should be completed within the next four-to-five weeks,' he said.

'We'll look at all the options, but we remain committed to being both an owner and operator of hotel assets,' he added.

M&C's pre-tax profits, which were flattered by the £52bn raised from the Plaza, jumped to £94.8m in the last calendar year against £18.7m in 2003.