Amari Group Undergoing Reorganisation

[george]

Amari Group undergoing reorganisation

BANGKOK: -- The Amari Group is reorganising its hotel business to develop residential projects and manage properties here and abroad, with one foreign deal already being negotiated.

"We cannot say where we will invest internationally now, but a deal will be completed by year-end," owner Yuthachai Charanachitta said during an interview yesterday.

The better-focused organisational structure is expected to drive revenue to Bt12.5 billion nine years from now.

As part of its reorganisation plan, the company has earmarked Bt5 billion to invest in the property and hospitality business in the final two months of this year and 2010.

Of that, Bt2 billion will go towards developing a condominium and hotel project in Hua Hin and the rest towards a similar complex in Phuket, a hotel on Koh Samui and international projects.

Sixty per cent will come from bank lending and the rest from internal cash flow.

Construction on the Bt1.3-billion Hua Hin Amari Residence will start next May, with presales this November 15.

This project will be developed by the group's property-development arm, Amari Estates, established two years ago with registered capital of Bt400 million and which is 99-per-cent owned by Sakdi Sin Prasit Co.

Sakdi Sin Prasit, wholly owned by the Charanachitta family, also controls the family's developed and undeveloped land in Phuket, Hua Hin and Koh Samui.

The Amari Hotel planned for Hua Hin will complement the condo at the same site, as the company is presenting the project as a "hotel-service condominium".

"We'll develop the same concept in Phuket on nearly 50 rai of land near the hotel," Yuthachai said, adding that the selling point for these condo projects is they had services like a hotel.

Amari also plans to launch a hospitality-management firm this year to manage its chain of 17 hotels in Thailand, 11 of them under the Amari brand.

"We're setting up a new firm because we want to rebrand the group's hotels," he said.

The group has not previously had separate brands for three-, four- and five-star hotels but now wants to create a clearer image for its product categories, with their own individual brands.

This rebranding will also support expansion abroad this year, Yuthachai said.

The reorganisation plan calls for Amari Estate to develop mainly residences and hotels, the Amari Group to continue as a holding company, Amari Hotels & Resorts to own and manage the Amari Watergate in Bangkok and a new firm to engage in hotel-chain management.

"Our strategy is to create a new firm for hotel-chain management. That will drive combined revenue to meet our target of Bt12.5 billion by 2018," he said.

After the reorganisation is completed this year, the company will introduce the three new hotel brands next March to show it manages hotels both at home and abroad.

Amari Hotels & Resorts' business recorded sales of only Bt2 billion last year and is expected to reach Bt2.2 billion this year.

Earlier, group president and CEO Peter Henley said the group planned to operate 40 more hotels and residences in Thailand and abroad by 2018.

The group now has 11 properties in Thailand, in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Koh Samui and Koh Chang.

-- The Nation 2009-11-05