Annual Report 2019

FAR EAST CONSORTIUM INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 14 CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S STATEMENT Among all the cities we have business presence, we see great hotel opportunity in the UK, where weaker GBP has increased the attractiveness of the hotel and tourism sector. London, in particular, benefited from the weakened pound and attracted a record level of international tourists, boosting hotel performance. Our newly opened Dorsett City London as well as Dorsett Shepherds Bush both provided us with good returns on investment and development profits. It also gives us confidence that there is more room for growth, therefore, we are looking for more hotel opportunities in the region. We have commenced construction of Dorsett Shepherds Bush extension, and another two hotels in London are in development pipeline. Along with 11 hotels in Australia, we expect to add 15 hotels with more than 3,000 rooms for the Group by FY2024. As for car park industry, we see the increasing trend of technology utilization as well as an increase of electric vehicles. This presents us with new value adding opportunities such as provision of recharging services and using more sophisticated software to manage revenue parking rates, thereby optimizing revenue. We see car park operations as our core business with great potential for regional expansion. From a long-term perspective, we plan to leverage the operational expertise of the Care Park brand to not only continuously consolidate its market leadership in Australia and New Zealand, but to also seek business expansion in Europe. In the long run, the development of our car park segment will be boosted through organic growth and acquisitions of new car parks. The Group expanded into the gaming and entertainment industry last year as we believe it can generate long-term stable cash flow. Meanwhile, our gaming and entertainment business will benefit from the growth of middle-class population under our “Asian Wallet” strategy. Gaming segment is complementary to our hospitality segment, in which we target international tourists. The investments that we have made are showing strong recurring cash flow and the projects provide us with good rate of return and strong potential for growth. As our business progresses, the Group is also committed to striking a balance between making profit and delivering sustainable development. We believe that building the right management team and good corporate governance are the most critical components for maintaining long-term sustainable success. Last year, the Group won a number of international awards in relation to corporate governance, corporate management, investor relations, environmental responsibility and social responsibility, and I am very proud of the social recognition for our efforts in this regard.