INTERVIEW-Pan Pacific eyes expansion amid hotels slump

* To double hotels under flagship brand to 40 in five-yrs

* Says revenue from Singapore down 15-20 percent Jan-May

* North America revenue hit by financial crisis

(Adds quotes on business plan)

By Candida Ng

SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) - Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG.SI) aims to double the number of hotels under its flagship brand in Asia and North America over the next five years despite a revenue slump in the January to May period, its CEO said.

Revenue from its main Singapore market fell 15-20 percent during the first five months from a year ago, A. Patrick Imbardelli, president and chief executive of Pan Pacific Hotels, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

The impact has been deeper in North America, where revenues from four of its five hotels dropped by a quarter, he said. "A lot of people are saying it's bottoming out. I don't know if it is, we're assuming that it's not. I think it's going to be tough for the next 12-18 months," the Australian-born Imbardelli said. "We've just gone through a two-year financial shock," he said

Singapore accounted for almost 56 percent of the group's revenue in 2008, whereas North America had a share of less than 1 percent, according to the group's annual report.

The decline in its Singapore operations mirrored the recent drop of Singapore's hotel room revenues. April saw a 40 percent decline in hotel room revenues, the steepest drop so far this year, government data showed. Despite the current downturn, the group still expects to increase the number of hotels under the Pan Pacific brand name to nearly 40 over the next five years, from the current 18.

"We're not gonna have 500 hotels in five years, that is not our intention and we're certainly not gonna stay at 18. So we're gonna look at sustainable growth for the next five years," Imbardelli said.

Pan Pacific, controlled by UOL Group (UTOS.SI), the property arm of Singapore banker Wee Cho Yaw, posted a 24 percent decrease in first-quarter profit to S$11 million ($7.6 million) from the same period a year earlier due to weaker performance from hotel operations.

The group, which owns the Pan Pacific and Parkroyal hotel chains, is eyeing expansions in North America, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia and China.

Imbardelli, a former CEO of InterContinental Hotel Group's (IHG.L) Asia-Pacific operations, said that the group was looking at opportunities to grow its business in China in cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

"We believe that consumers in China are wanting something a little bit different," Imbardelli said in company meeting room named Phuket. Various meeting rooms of Pan Pacific are named after a city that it hopes to expand into.

The group also expects to grow its spa business, under the brand name St Gregory, from the current seven outlets in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan and include them in more of its hotels.

"Over the next ten hotels, at least five of them will have St Gregory spas in them," Imbardelli said.

The group appointed this week Eric Levy as senior vice president in charge of expanding the group's hotel portfolio and global brand stategist Interbrand to review the group's brands.

($1=1.449 Singapore Dollar)

(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

((candida.ng@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5667; Reuters Messaging: candida.ng.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: PANPACIFIC/

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