AYALA Land Inc., the listed property giant of the Ayala Group, sees a delay in the reopening of a new Mandarin Hotel in Makati due to the negative impact of COVID-19 on construction, the tourism industry and air travel.
Originally planned to have been completed last year, Mandarin Oriental Manila is now targeted to open in the second half of 2023 or in 2024.
“With expectations to open 2023, second half, or in 2024 then depending on the market and business travel, we’ll see,” ALI president and CEO Bernard Vincent Dy said in a briefing last week.
In all, ALI expects the hotel business to recover in 2024 at the earliest but it vowed to keep its hotels and resorts open to keep people employed.
“The mandate is just to keep the cash flowing. But we don’t expect to make money from this business, at least not in 2021,” Dy said.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced the closure of the hotel in 2014, closing the hotel gradually, area by area, instead of shutting down all the hotel areas at once.
The hotel saw its last day of operation on September 9, 2014
The lease of the management of the Mandarin Oriental Manila with ALI was due to end in 2026 but the board decided to close the hotel instead of waiting for the lease to expire.
ALI through Ayala Land Hotel & Resorts then planned to redevelop the new Mandarin Oriental Manila across the street at the Ayala Triangle Gardens, with a plan to have 275 rooms.
ALI reported a 74 percent drop in net income in 2020 to P8.7 billion compared to P33.2 billion in 2019.
Consolidated revenue likewise declined to P96.3 billion, down 43 percent compared to P168.8 billion a year ago on the back of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business.
However, ALI posted a net income growth in the fourth quarter to P2.4 billion, up 28 percent from the third quarter and a 49 percent revenue growth to P33 billion.
By business segments, revenues from property development dipped to P66.5 billion for the year due to construction restrictions and lower bookings but this soared 64 percent to P25.8 billion in the fourth quarter from the third quarter of 2020, boosted by continuous construction progress in 174 projects across the country.
Commercial leasing revenues contracted 44 percent to P21.9 billion in 2020 given limited mall and hotel operations, although mall revenues grew 10 percent to P1.7 billion in the fourth quarter from the third quarter on account of less strict community quarantine restrictions coupled with the holiday season boost, ALI also said.
Banner caption: Tower Two and Mandarin Hotel at Ayala Triangle Gardens. (Artist’s perspective) Ayala Land Inc./Photo Release