Fiji Castaway Island has 65 rooms and is one of the six hotels Singha Estate acquired from Outrigger earlier this month.

SET-listed property firm Singha Estate Plc (S) wants to expand its hotel rooms and develop super-luxury villas for sale in Fiji after taking over two resorts there from American hotel chain Outrigger Hotels & Resorts over the last two weeks.

Chief executive Naris Cheyklin said Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort, one of the two resorts the company bought, has the potential for expansion as the resort is located on a hillside plot of more than 1,000 rai that is not fully developed.

"We bought vacant land plots together with the resort," he said. "The plots have the potential for development of additional hotel rooms and super-luxury villas for sale, but this plan is still under study."

Another location for possible development of super-luxury villas for sale is in the Maldives because of its popularity among wealthy travellers.

On June 12, Singha Estate bought six hotels from Outrigger with an investment of US$310 million (10.2 billion baht). They comprise the 253-room Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort and 65-room Fiji Castaway Island.

The sale also included 181 rooms in Mauritius, 53 rooms in the Maldives, 52 rooms in Samui and 255 rooms in Phuket. The latter four locations are operated under the Outrigger brand, which Singha Estate will use for a certain period before changing to other brands in the near future, said Mr Naris.

He said this acquisition was worth the investment as initial yield is 8% per year and the average occupancy rate of the six hotels was 78%. The investment helps Singha Estate diversify its risks in the hotel business as it has a variety of destinations.

Before the acquisition, Singha Estate had a total of 31 hotels with a combined 3,393 rooms in two countries. They comprise two in Thailand on Koh Phi Phi and Samui, and 29 in Britain.

During the first five months this year, Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort with 201 rooms had the highest occupancy rate for the company at 85%, followed by its UK hotels at 73% and the 77-room Santiburi Samui with 60%.

After the acquisition, Singha Estate will have 4,271 rooms worth a combined $600 million or around 20 billion baht. This size makes it appropriate for S Hotels & Resorts Co (SHR), the company's subsidiary for hotel business, to list on the bourse next year, said Mr Naris.

By the end of this year, the company will open two new hotels in the Maldives -- Curio by Hilton and Hard Rock in Crossroads, a large-scale resort development project costing $310 million to develop until 2020.

He said revenue from hospitality business and commercial property will account for 40-50% of the total in 2019, up from 20-30% this year. The rest is to be from residential business through its own development and Nirvana Daii Plc, its property development subsidiary.

In 2020, the company aims to have 20 billion baht in revenue, accounting for 20% of parent firm Boon Rawd Brewery Co's total revenue.

S shares closed Monday on the SET at 3.14 baht, down two satang, in trade worth 6.62 million baht.