Sunday, July 27, 2008

Berjaya gets offer for Seychelles hotels


Berjaya Land Bhd has received offers to buy both its hotels in Seychelles for US$62 million, Malaysia’s Business Times reported, quoting the company’s resort and hotel division head Foo Toon Kee.

The hotels are the four-star, 232-room Beau Vallon Bay Beach Resort & Casino on Mahe Island and the three-star, 80-room Berjaya Praslin Beach Resort. ‘We have been operating there for over 10 years. We might consider the sale. We are still contemplating whether to sell or redevelop the place,’ Mr Foo, the acting head of Berjaya Hotels and Resorts, told MBT in an interview.

Should Berjaya decide to sell the properties, that would be in line with its future plans to focus on five-star hotels and resorts. Berjaya has had a presence on the popular island resort for over a decade. When asked what would be a comfortable sale figure for the hotels, Mr Foo said: ‘They could fetch US$70 million . . . but I am not saying that we will definitely sell.’

Yet another property it may consider selling if the price is to its satisfaction is the three-star Berjaya Georgetown Hotel in Penang. The 323-room hotel has a book value of about RM80 million (S$33.5 million). The hotel produces a lower profit margin than its five-star hotels. It has an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin of about 20 per cent versus 45 per cent for the five-star properties.

In the event that the hotel is not sold, Mr Foo said, the group may consider rebranding it to better distinguish the various star categories of the hotels under Berjaya.


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