SHANGHAI Jinjiang International Hotels Development Co, China's largest hotel operator, said first-quarter profit jumped 13 percent mainly due to increased sales at its franchising food and beverage businesses.

Net income rose to 55.86 million yuan (US$7.25 million), or 0.09 yuan a share, in the first three months of this year while revenue climbed 13.6 percent to 196.56 million yuan in the same period, the company said yesterday in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company's 49 percent owned KFC ventures added eight more outlets in the first quarter, and sales were boosted by 11 percent to 413.18 million yuan.

Meanwhile, revenue from its Cafe de Coral venture, Hong Kong's largest Chinese fast-food chain, rose 8.6 percent to 46.35 million yuan, and sales from its Yoshinoya venture, a leading Japanese beef-bowl chain, surged 37.1 percent to 7.68 million yuan. The two ventures both added one outlet in the period, the statement said.

However, revenue from the company's hotel-management business declined 1.3 percent to 23.59 million yuan. Average occupancy rates at four hotels, in which Jinjiang holds more than 20 percent of each, rose by 3.7 percentage points to 72.4 percent while room prices fell six percent to 1,023 yuan, the company said.

Source:佚名