GuocoLeisure first-quarter profit falls 29 percent on hiring, year-earlier gains

Tuesday 29th October 2013

GuocoLeisure, the diversified investment company once known as Brierley Investments, posted a 29 percent drop in first-quarter profit on costs for its hotel rebranding strategy.

Profit fell to US$16.4 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, from US$23.2 million a year earlier, the Singapore-based company said in a statement. Revenue rose 3.2 percent to $107.8 million, though this was more than offset by increases in costs of wages, raw materials and other expenses.

GuocoLeisure said personnel expenses jumped 21 percent to US$29.9 million, which reflected hiring of hotel management and operations staff "for the on-going transformation and rebranding strategies in the UK." Other operating expenses climbed 15 percent to US$9.1 million on marketing and consultancy fees related to its hotels.

Costs of raw materials and consumables rose 2.5 percent to US$49.2 million. The Bass Strait royalty fell about 5.7 percent to US$11.6 million, reflecting lower average crude oil prices and reduced production.

Results in the latest period included a US$800,000 gain from the sale of a casino licence by Clermont Leisure UK.

GuocoLeisure is made up of four divisions. Guoman Hotels manages hotels in the UK and Malaysia under the Guoman and Thistle brands; the gaming division operates London's Clermont Club; the oil & gas division gets royalties from the Bass Strait Oil Trust; and the property division owns the 54,677 acre Molokai Properties on the island of Molokai in Hawaii and Tabua Investments in Fiji.

Because it was once New Zealand stock exchange-listed Brierley Investments, GuocoLeisure still has shares that trade on the NZX. They were last at 78 cents and have gained 20 percent in the past 12 months, about matching the NZX 50 Index.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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