Minor plans US$1.1 billion expansion

Thailand’s Minor International plans to invest 40 billion baht (US$1.13 billion) over the next five years in a major expansion of its hotel and fast-food chain businesses at home and overseas.
Chaiyapat Paitoon, vice president for strategic planning, said more than half that overall sum will be used to build up existing operations, with about 14-15 billion baht set aside for acquisitions, Reuters reported.
The company will use internal cash and debt financing to fund the investment, he said.
The firm aims to raise the number of hotels it operates to 210 by 2020 from 145 now, he said, while targeting an increase in the number of its domestic and foreign fast-food outlets to 3,100 by 2020 from 1,851 currently.
Minor, which owns stakes in hotels run under the Four Seasons, Marriott and St. Regis brands in Bangkok, as well as Oaks in Australia, is aiming to secure net profit growth of at least 15 to 20 percent a year during 2016-2020, Chaiyapat said.
The company said its 2015 net profit jumped 60 percent from a year earlier to 7 billion baht, citing robust growth in the hospitality business and gains from revaluation of investments related to acquisitions in Africa and Australia.