Millennium hotels back in the black

MILLENNIUM & Copthorne has seen a bounce in profitability after fixing problems at its Gatwick hotels and winning back business from airline crews at its Tara hotel in Kensington, west London.

The group said London, New York and Asia hotels are seeing strong recoveries. Pre-tax profits in the six months to 30 June were £20.6m against losses a year earlier of £6.3m.

M&C confirmed that Tony Potter will become sole chief executive officer by the end the year and that David Cashman, who has been in charge of finance since the departure of David Thomas last March is appointed group chief financial officer with immediate effect.

Tony Potter and Wong Hong Ren became Joint CEOs when John Wilson departed last March and were given the job of reviewing the group's operations and assets and establishing its forward programmes.

These tasks will be completed by the end of the year, and Wong Hong Ren will revert to his former role as executive director.

The interim dividend is cut to 2.08p per share from the 4.2p last year.