PRESS RELEASE – 12 JANUARY 2006 FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MINT OPENS TWO
NEW HOTELS AND JOINS SET 100
Minor International (MINT) is pleased to announce that it has opened the
50 room Bodu Hura Hotel in the Maldives
and the 15 room Four Seasons Tent Camp in Chaing
Rai, Thailand
and joined the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s SET 100 index. The two new hotels along
with three others which are expected to open later this year will contribute to
MINT’s overall revenue and earnings growth in 2006. The Stock Exchange’s
decision to include MINT in the SET 100 index enhances MINT’s profile as a
leading publicly listed food service and hotel company and comes almost two
months after MINT was selected by Forbes as one of Asia’s
top 200 public listed companies with sales under US$ 1 billion.
On December 23, MINT opened the 50 room Bodu Hura Hotel in the Maldives with
an average occupancy rate of 60% during its first two weeks of operation. The Maldives represents an exciting new market for
MINT’s expanding international hotel business which previously consisted of 10
hotels located in Thailand and
Vietnam.
In the second quarter of 2006, MINT expects to open two more hotels in the Maldives
including a 110 room hotel under the company’s own Anantara hotel brand.
On January 14, MINT will open a 15 room Tent Camp in the Golden Triangle
region of Chiang Rai on a remote site along the Mekong
River where the borders of Thailand, Laos,
and Myanmar
intersect. This premier luxury resort in northern Thailand
is managed by the Four Seasons and is expected to provide guests with an
experience unlike any available at Thailand’s other leading tourist destinations.
With the 80 room Four Seasons in Chiang Mai and the 77 room Anantara Hotel in
Chiang Rai, MINT has further strengthened its leading position among luxury
hotel companies in northern Thailand
with the development of the Four Seasons Tent Camp.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has included MINT in its SET 100
index of Thailand’s
top 100 listed companies by market capitalization, free-float, and turnover. MINT
is pleased to be included in the SET 100 as it reflects the increasing strength
and size of its food service and hotel businesses which combined for a 32% and
67% increase in sales and earnings during the first nine months of 2005,
respectively. Since January 2005, MINT’s market capitalization (excluding
treasury stock) has increased by more than 100% to Baht 16.5 billion.
Minor International (MINT) is Thailand’s largest food service operator
with over 558 outlets system wide under The Pizza Company, Swensen’s, Sizzler,
Dairy Queen and Burger King brands. It is one of Thailand’s leading hotel operators
with a portfolio of 12 hotels and over 2,352 rooms under the Marriott, Four
Seasons, Anantara, and Minor International brands. Through a joint venture with
Marriott International, it has developed the 144 room Marriott Vacation Club
Time Share in Phuket. It is also one of the largest spa operators in Asia
Pacific with 16 spas in Thailand
and China
under the Mandara, the Spa and Anantara brands. For more information, please visit www.minornet.com
Press Contacts: Pratana Manomaiphiboon / Prapharat
Tangkawattana / Jim Fralick at Tel: (662) 381-5151