(Adds company comments, details, background)
By Esha Vaish
Nov 2 (Reuters) - Millennium & Copthorne Hotels reported a 28 percent rise in third-quarter profits onWednesday, boosted by the slump in sterling after Britain votedto leave the European Union which had also attracted moretourists to its London hotels.
M&C said the pound's slide had made London moreattractive over the summer, especially for Middle East touristskeen to escape during the hottest months in their countries,although the company also cautioned that the uncertain outlookfor the UK economy might also cause a drop in businesstravellers visiting London this winter.
"London was up because it was the summer months and peoplecame because it was affordable ... but we're looking at thecorporate sector from October onwards and that's down," AngelaOng, senior vice president for finance, told Reuters.
However, Ong said it was too early to say whether that dropwas due to Brexit or whether the trend would continue.
M&C, which has over 100 luxury hotels, said for its eightLondon hotels revenue per available room (RevPar) increased by2.4 percent at constant currency rates over the quarter endedSept. 30. It reversed course with the end of the holiday seasonto fall 15 percent over the three weeks that followed.
Earlier this year industry data provider STR cut its London2016 RevPar forecast to a 4 percent fall, while Premier Innowner Whitbread noted a decline in London like-for-likeRevPar over the six-months ended Sept. 30.
Majority owned by Singaporean businessman Kwek Leng Beng'sproperty company, M&C operates under the Millennium, GrandMillennium, Copthorne and Kingsgate brands and has focused onexpansion into "gateway cities" such as London, Singapore andNew York.
Weak trading in New York and Singapore, due to "significant"increases in new hotel supply, pulled M&C's third-quarter RevPardown 1.7 percent year-on-year, from a first-half fall of 4.2percent.
M&C's third-quarter pretax profit rose to 46 million pounds,up from 36 million pounds in the same quarter last year, onrevenue up 17 percent at 247 million pounds.
Sterling's fall added 43 million pounds to M&C's nine-monthrevenue, which was up 8 percent at 665 million pounds, whilepretax profit was up just 4.1 percent at 102 million pounds.
Ong said it was too early to say whether the pound's slidewould increase M&C's overall costs.
London accounted for 15 percent of group revenues last year. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by LouiseHeavens, Greg Mahlich)
