Mandarin Oriental International, the hotel arm of Jardine Matheson, slumped to an attributable loss of US$4.3 million last year, hit by the depressed property market and regional tourism downturn.
It made an attributable profit of US$45.7 million in 1997.
The group, which owns the Mandarin Oriental and the Excelsior in Hong Kong, had a non-recurring loss of US$23.8 million for the year to December, more than double the US$9.2 million in the previous year.
The loss was largely due to provisions for the fall in value of hotel properties.
All markets except North America performed poorly last year, with Hong Kong and Macau reporting the worst trading profit.
Chairman Simon Keswick said: 'Little improvement is expected in travel and tourism around Asia this year.
'But our hotels are maintaining their high standards of service and responding vigorously to the regional economic downturn.' During the period, the group's operating profit fell 48.53 per cent to US$40.5 million on turnover down 24.83 per cent to US$194 million.
