Wallapa Traisorat, chief executive and president of AWC, said hotels recorded outstanding performances last year compared with leasing revenue from commercial spaces, encouraging the company to focus on adding more luxury portfolios this year to gain higher profit.
Mrs Wallapa said when AWC listed in 2019, it initially aimed to have revenue from hotels and leasing split equally at 50%, reports the Bangkok Post.
However, the hotel business share has climbed to 60%, with leasing dropping to 40%. Even though revenue from leasing still recorded growth in 2024, it was only 8% compared with 20% revenue growth for hotels, she said.
In 2024, AWC set new records in five categories, mostly driven by the hotel business as the average daily rate (ADR) surged to B5,873 from B5,661 (+3.74%), while revenue per available room (RevPar) soared to B4,200 from B3,658 (+14.81%).
Its net profit was driven to a record high of B5.8bn in 2024, up from B5.1bn, as well as business unit Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of B12bn, and Ebitda yield of 10.1%, up from 8.6% in 2023.
Mrs Wallapa said AWC’s growth in terms of RevPar at 15% also exceeded the industry average of 12%, as well as the average occupancy growth of 7%, higher than the market average of 2% recorded last year.
Looking into 2025, the company aims to drive occupancy rates across its 6,971 rooms to more than 75%, up from 72% in 2024.
She said the company plans to grow the overall value of assets to B300bn within five years, a huge increase from B1.98bn in 2024, with the number of hotel rooms doubling to 12,000.
Mrs Wallapa said one of the key strategies is to bring the most luxurious hotel brands to properties that have the potential to generate a stable revenue for the company.
For instance, the latest acquisition on Ratchadaphisek Road will be transformed into a JW Marriott property before the end of this year. On completion, this project’s ADR should grow from around B2,000 at present to the same level of other properties under AWC at over B5,800.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, AWC saw a surge in ADR among many renovated properties compared to the pre-development stage, such as Melia Chiang Mai, whose ADR rose by 639%, and Courtyard by Marriott Phuket, whose ADR grew by 386%.