Millenium & Coprthorne posted a drop in first half revenue and profit, which it blamed on the strength of sterling, challenging Asian markets - in particular Singapore - and higher costs.Revenue per available room (RevPAR) declined by 2.4% from £67.27m to £65.67m, while group revenue dipped 0.4% from £382.2m to £380.6m. At constant currency, revenue rose 6% to £380.6m. Pre-tax profit slid from 14.9% from £68.6m to £58.4m, while basic earnings per share slumped by a third from 13p to 9.4p, with currency movements delivering a significant hit. Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said: "It is too early to predict results for the full year, but the group is cautiously optimistic that with appropriate actions performance will meet management expectations. "Group performance was disappointing in the first half of 2014. This was due to a broad range of factors including geopolitical events unsettling the hospitality sector - especially in Asia - and the rapid appreciation of our reporting currency, the pound sterling. Management is adopting a more cautious outlook and increasing its attention to cost control in uncertain markets."Regionally, RevPAR was down 0.3% year-on-year in the US, and excluding the refurbishment effect at Millennium Hotel Minneapolis, closure of Millennium Hotel St Louis and acquisition of Novotel New York Times Square, it fell 5.6% Singapore RevPAR declined 17.1%, while Rest of Asia was down 12.2%. In London, RevPAR climbed 1.9%, although excluding the acquisition of The Chelsea Harbour Hotel, where the figure was down 0.6%.Net debt rose from £81.3m to £163.9m over the period. The interim dividend of 2.08p was maintained. Shares had fallen 0.46% to 576.35p by 12:20.NR