HOTEL Properties Limited : H15 0% (HPL) on Tuesday (Feb 27) reported a net profit of S$578.2 million for the six months ended Dec 31, 2023, a significant increase from the net profit of S$38.3 million in the corresponding year-ago period.

The net profit also reversed the hotel operator’s net loss of S$17.2 million recorded in the first half of 2023.

Revenue for H2 2023 stood at S$323.1 million, also an improvement from S$276 million in H2 2022.

The results translate to earnings per share of S$1.1024, up from 5.32 cents per share in H2 2022.

For the financial year, net profit was boosted almost 14-times to S$561 million from S$40.2 million a year earlier, while revenue increased by 22.2 per cent to S$642.1 million, from the S$525.5 million recorded in FY2022.

Gross profit for FY2023 increased by 39.2 per cent to S$146.7 million from S$105.4 million a year ago. This increase was mainly attributable to “better performance by the group’s hotels and resorts in general, in line with the continued recovery in international travel”, said HPL.

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Notably, the group had disposed of assets with net book value amounting to S$10.8 million in FY 2023, significantly higher than S$1.2 million worth of assets disposed of in FY 2022.

For FY2023, the group recorded a mark-to-market fair value loss of S$11.9 million on long-term investments, lower than S$17.3 million a year earlier. Finance cost, however, increased to S$98.3 million from S$59.4 million in FY 2022 mainly to higher interest rates.

The board of directors has recommended a first and final dividend of four Singapore cents per share, and a special dividend of two Singapore cents per share, subject to shareholders’ approval.

The date payable, as well as the books closure date, will be announced in due course, HPL said.

The group added that it has received the grant of provisional permission for the redevelopment of the Forum, voco Orchard Singapore and HPL House into a mixed development comprising hotel, retail, office and residential components, and is working on further detailed plans.

It is also expecting Bankside Yards in London, with a residential tower of over 200 units, to enter the next phase of development in the coming year.

HPL has attracted significant media attention as its managing director and co-founder, Ong Beng Seng, is currently involved in a corruption probe along with former transport minister S Iswaran.

Prior to the results release, shares of HPL closed flat at S$3.58.