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The group's property in Kowloon, one of the 93 Shangri-La hotels in its portfolio. The company says weak demand on the mainland is a challenge. Photo: May Tse

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

TIFFANY AP

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.

The company said it was challenged by weak demand and increased competition on the mainland, where it has the majority of its properties, in addition to a weakening of the yuan and start-up losses for new hotels.

The company's share price closed up 1.15 per cent yesterday at HK$12.30 before the results were announced. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.15 per cent to hit a six-year high.

In April, the company opened a Shangri-La hotel in Lhasa, Tibet. It also launched in May its first hotel in London, called Shangri-La Hotel At The Shard.

The company has 12 hotel projects in China and in six other countries that are under development. In 2010, it opened a Paris Shangri-La and last year, one in Istanbul, which registered a profit for the first time of US$600,000. It has also acquired a property in Rome where it will develop a Shangri-La.

Shangri-La has been making further inroads in Europe where Asian hotel operators are focusing expansion plans on capturing luxury spending from Chinese travellers going abroad in increasing numbers.

Shangri-La is part of the Kerry Group, the controlling shareholder of the SCMP Group, which publishes the .

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Shangri-La unveils new brand as profit leaps 39 pc
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