Annual Report 2019

Annual Report 2019 Miramar Hotel and Investment Company, Limited Consolidated Results The Group’s revenue for the year amounted to HK$3,062 million, representing a decrease of 4.3% (2018: HK$3,199 million). Profit attributable to shareholders for the reporting period decreased by 20.7% to HK$1,288 million (2018: HK$1,624 million). The decline is caused by the weakened operating results of our hotel and restaurant businesses, coupled with a notable reduction in the revaluation gain of our investment properties as compared to the prior year. Excluding the net increase of HK$504 million (2018: HK$783 million) in the fair value of our investment properties and other net gain from non-core businesses, the underlying profit attributable to shareholders* decreased by 5.3% to approximately HK$784 million (2018: HK$828 million). The underlying earnings per share (basic)* dropped by 5.8% to HK$1.13 (2018: HK$1.20), which is in line with the decrease in underlying profit attributable to shareholders. Final Dividend The Board is pleased to recommend a final dividend of HK34 cents per share payable to shareholders whose names are on the Register of Members as at 24 June 2020. Including an interim dividend of HK24 cents per share paid on 11 October 2019, the total dividend payment for the whole year will be HK58 cents per share. Overview The year under review started its first half under a tepid business environment following the uncertainties and restrained demands inflicted by the lingering Sino-US trade disputes. The business conditions were aggravated since the second half of the year with the onset of Hong Kong’s social activities, which led to a rapid drop in the number of incoming visitors and serial business disruptions that imperiled the Group’s planning, operation, customer services as well as business performance. For the whole year, GDP receded by 1.2% compared with a growth of 2.9% in the prior year while unemployment rate edged up from 2.8% in 2018 to 3.3% in 2019. Total visitor arrivals in the year decreased by 14.2% to 55.91 million (2018: 65.15 million) while overnight visitors declined by 18.8% to 23.75 million (2018: 29.26 million), attributable predominantly to those originating from mainland China. In the wake of these adverse operating conditions, the Group had closely kept track of the shifting but weak market demands and adjusted its business strategies in response to intensified competition for its * Underlying profit attributable to shareholders and underlying earnings per share (basic) excluded the post-tax effects of the investment properties revaluation movements and other non-operating and non-recurring items such as net gain on disposal/liquidation of a subsidiary  Chairman and CEO ’ s Statement 006 Chairman and CEO’s Statement