ATHENS, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Greek hotel operator Lampsa , owner of the landmark Grande Bretagne hotel in Athens, expects 2006 net profit to almost double, helped by higher room prices, its president said on Wednesday.
"We estimate a net profit of about 6 million euros in 2006," Lampsa President Maurice Modiano told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "We had an occupancy rate of about 68 percent, and we also slightly raised the rates."
The Grande Bretagne hotel, Lampsa''s most important asset, was extensively revamped in 2004, when Athens staged the Olympic Games.
Lampsa reported a 3.4 million euro ($4.5 million) net profit in 2005. The company has not previously given any guidance on its 2006 profits.
The hotel, managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide , has hosted heads of state and world celebrities, including British statesman Winston Churchill and Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, since it opened in 1874.
Modiano said the average room rate is expected to be 243 euros this year versus 223 euros in 2005. He said increased revenues from Grande Bretagne''s four restaurants and a spa also boosted results.
Greece has been trying to attract more wealthy travellers and business people, slowly moving away from its mass-market mainstay, to increase tourism revenues which make up about 18 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
But Modiano said this effort has been held back by a lack of a major conference centre in Athens and a law which bans foreign-flagged cruise ships from taking on new passengers at Greek ports.
"Greece''s Piraeus port could easily turn into a cruise-ship hub but there is a legislative hitch and, as a result, Genoa and Barcelona are the hubs for most of the (world''s) cruises," he said.
In its first step abroad, Lampsa bought a 51 percent stake in the Hyatt Regency hotel in Belgrade, Serbia, for 11.1 million euros in June, to cash in on robust economic growth in the country. It is in talks with the Serbian state, which holds most of the remaining shares, to raise the stake, Modiano said.
Modiano said Lampsa was also looking for opportunities in Turkey, along with Bulgaria and Romania which are expected to join the European Union next year.
"We are interested in the market of Istanbul and possibly in Sofia and Bucharest but in the longer term," he said. This would entail more borrowing or a rights issue to finance expansion.
Modiano said Lampsa would decide early next year whether to hike the dividend from the 0.05 euro a share it paid for 2005. Lampsa shares have gained 60 percent in 2006, outperforming the broader Greek market, and valuing the firm at 256 million euros. ($1=.7533 Euro)