TA Enterprise expects to triple revenue from hospitality ops

KUALA LUMPUR: TA Enterprise Bhd, a member of the TA Group, expects a three-fold increase in revenue contribution from its hospitality operations next year.

Its managing director and chief executive officer, Datin Alicia Tiah said this follows an additional hotel portfolio acquisition this year.

The company's 2009 Annual Report showed that the hotel division contributed RM76 million for the financial year ended Jan 31, 2009.

"We hope to see this more than triple in future," she told reporters after the company's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) here on Wednesday.

Tiah said the company was confident that the outlook for continued growth in the hospitality market is very positive and in tandem with the better global economic outlook.

Meanwhile, she said the new acquisition, the RM635.805 million four-star Swissotel Merchant Court hotel in Singapore, was part of TA Enterprise's plan to enhance its hospitality operations.

According to Tiah, the property and brokerage company has also set aside S$5 million (S$1.00=RM2.44) to refurbish the newly acquired hotel.

She said the amount budgeted is for the next five years to upgrade the hotel's public areas, back of house areas and meeting facilities.

"The budgeted capital expenditure has taken into consideration the pricing of the hotel," she added.

The purchase of the hotel involves the acquisition of 50,569,495 ordinary shares of US$1 each in Quayside Gem Ltd (QGL), representing 100 per cent of the issued and paid-up share capital of the company from a real estate investment fund, LaSalle Asia Opportunity II SARL.

"We believe that Swissotel will provide a steady revenue stream to the hospitality operations of the TA Group," she said.

Tiah explained that the company planned to transfer Swissotel over to TA Global for better synergistic management, since all the existing hotel properties of the TA Group is held under that company.

Currently, TA Group through TA Global owns three other hotels, including the Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney and Westin Melbourne in Australia as well as the Aava Whistler, Canada.

Tiah said the company also hoped to complete one other acquisition this year.

She, however, declined to elaborate further on this, stating that it would continue eyeing commercial buildings, hotels and land in the country and overseas.

By Bernama