Shangri-La unveils new hotel brand 'Jen' as profit leaps 39 pc
Hotel Jen to first open for business in Singapore in September as company reports attributable gain of US$35.8 million for the first half
Shangri-La Asia announced yesterday consolidated profit for the first half to June rose 39 per cent as the luxury chain relaunched its affordable business hotel brand to replace many of the Traders properties in its portfolio.
The operator of the Shangri-La, Kerry and Traders chain of hotels said the new brand would be called "Hotel Jen". The first hotel under this brand, Hotel Jen Orchardgateway, will be launched on September 17 in Singapore.
The name Jen derives from the Chinese characters for the Confucian ideal of love and goodwill towards people. Shangri-La used to operate hotels under that name several years ago but then transitioned into the Traders brand. The group operates 16 Traders, two Kerry and 93 Shangri-La hotels.
The company's profit before the inclusion of gains in investment properties stood at US$35.8 million for the first half, against US$25.7 million a year ago. If those gains are included, the consolidated profit would be US$76.2 million, down from US$215.3 million previously.
The company declared an interim dividend of six HK cents per share.
"Overall … the operating performance of the group is not expected to show any remarkable improvement for the remainder of this year," Shangri-La said in a statement to the stock exchange.