Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels 2025 annual results presentation. My name is Aiden, General Manager of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations for the company. The results announcements were posted on the stock exchange website earlier this afternoon. Our presentation will begin with 2025 annual results, followed by an overview of our strategic review vision, and finally, a Q&A session. For webcast participants, you are welcome to submit your questions at any time using the Q&A box through your screen. Today, we are pleased to welcome the following speakers, Mr. Benjamin Vuchot, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Keith Robertson, Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gareth Roberts, Chief Operating Officer. We would now like to invite our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Benjamin Vuchot, to begin the presentation.
We achieved a material strengthening in financial performance compared with the prior year, and this reflects the enduring quality of our assets, the strength of the Peninsula brand, and disciplined execution across the organization. Importantly, this performance translated into a return to profitability, a clear demonstration of operating leverage and cost discipline throughout the business. 2025 was not only about delivering results, it was also about taking a hard look at where we stand and where we need to go. Over the past year, we undertook a comprehensive strategic review, a deliberate fact-based assessment of our position, the evolving luxury hospitality landscape, and the choices required to ensure HSH remains distinctive and value-creating over the long term. I will share the outcome of that work with you in a second, and in the second half of this presentation.
Now, let me briefly take you through the financial highlights for the year. Our 2025 results reflect a group that is financially stronger and more resilient, providing a solid platform for the next phase of our strategy. Revenue from operations increased by 11%, with growth across all core divisions. Operating EBITDA increased by 43%, reflecting strong flow-through from revenue growth and disciplined cost management. As a result the group delivered an underlying profit of HKD 105 million compared with an underlying loss last year, a meaningful turnaround. Net cash from operations increased by 69%, highlighting the improving quality and sustainability of earnings. Our balance sheet remains solid, with net external debt stable at 23% of total assets and an A credit rating from both JCR and R&I.
We also continue to make progress on residential sales at The Peninsula London. Turning to performance by division, results were positive and broad-based in 2025. In hotels, we achieved RevPAR growth across all regions, driven by the post-renovation rebound of New York, the ramp-up of London and Istanbul, and a record-breaking performance in Tokyo. On the commercial property side, we continued to provide a stable earnings base, supported by robust leasing at The Repulse Bay and improved footfall and tenant mix at the Peak complex. In Peak Tram, Retail, and Others, our performance benefited from increased patronage, successful brand collaborations, refreshed retail concepts, and the launch of Primo Posto, our first freestanding restaurant concept in Hong Kong. Overall, this was a year where stronger execution, cost discipline, and prior investments came together to deliver tangible results.
With that overview, I will now hand over to Keith Robertson, who will take you through the financial results in more detail. Over to you, Keith.
Thank you, Benjamin, and good afternoon, everybody. All figures presented here are in Hong Kong dollars, unless otherwise specified. In 2025, the group achieved significant growth in both revenue and EBITDA and returned to profitability during the year. Consolidated revenue amounted to HKD 8 billion, excluding revenue from the sale of the Peninsula London Residences. It increased by 11% to HKD 7.6 billion. This is driven by robust performance across all divisions, which we will detail in the next slide. Operating EBITDA, excluding the sale of the Peninsula London Residences, increased by 43% year-on-year to HKD 1.7 billion. After considering the residential sales, pre-opening project and other non-recurring expenses, EBITDA increased by 16% year-on-year. An underlying profit of HKD 105 million was achieved, a turnaround from an underlying loss of HKD 176 million last year.
There is revenue and EBITDA growth across all divisions. The hotel division delivered notable improvements in revenue across all properties, achieving an overall 13% increase. In particular, the division benefited from the post-impact renovation of The Peninsula New York, the ramping up of The Peninsula London and The Peninsula Istanbul, and record-breaking metrics at The Peninsula Tokyo. Revenue at the commercial properties division, excluding the sales of The Peninsula London Residences, increased 5% to HKD 929 million. The division was supported by increased occupancy of over 94% at The Repulse Bay and an improved tenant mix at the Peak Tower, partially offset by a softer market for St. John's Building and a decrease in revenue from The Landmark, Vietnam as the joint venture approached its conclusion in mid-January 2026.
Revenue from the Peak Tram, Retail, and Others division increased by 6% to HKD 1 billion, driven primarily by the strong performance of the Peak Tram and of the Quill. There's also positive flow through to EBITDA for all the divisions. Excluding the cost of inventories for the Peninsula London Residences and project expenses, operating costs amounted to HKD 5.9 billion, representing an increase of 4% against a corresponding revenue increase of 11%. The hospitality industry, as many of you know, by nature, has a high fixed cost base. This positive EBITDA flow through is a significant achievement, really reflecting our ongoing commitment to operational excellence and cost management discipline. Staff costs continue to be the primary component of our operating expenses really reflecting the service-intensive nature of luxury hospitality.
In terms of cash flow, the group generated a cash inflow from operations of HKD 839 million, up 69% compared to 2024. This is particularly driven by the increase in operating EBITDA, as we stated in the previous slides. In addition, proceeds from the sale of one Peninsula London Residences unit were HKD 395 million, compared to over HKD 3 billion from seven units in 2024. Net cash inflow before dividends and other payments amounted to HKD 800 million. This decrease was primarily driven by fewer Peninsula London Residence units sold compared to the previous year. Moving on to the balance sheet, the group's consolidated net debt was at HKD 12.7 billion, with net borrowings to total assets remaining stable at 23% as compared to 2024. Undrawn committed facilities amounted to HKD 2 billion.
During the year, the group issued its debut private samurai bond for JPY 16 billion, with the longest tenor up to six years, becoming the first-ever Hong Kong hospitality company to do so. The private samurai bonds are rated A by both the Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. and Rating and Investment Information, Inc. The group has also successfully refinanced its GBP Green Club Loan of GBP 425 million with nine banks. During the year, we've also optimized our debt currency mix from an FX and interest rate perspective. These are two main drivers for the decrease of weighted average gross rate from 4.69% to 3.9% in 2025. We would regularly review the capital structure to ensure there is ample headroom for its obligations and its commitments.
Now I'll hand you over to Gareth to talk about the operations.
Thank you very much Keith, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'll first start with the hotels division, which delivered a resilient and broadly positive performance across all regions in 2025. In Greater China, performance was stable, supported by inbound demand recovery and expanded visa-free travel to the Chinese mainland. All three Peninsula hotels in Greater China delivered solid room and banqueting results, although food and beverage remained softer due to tightened consumer spending. RevPAR increased by 8%. In Hong Kong, performance strengthened in Q4, closing the year on a high note. We've seen continued growth in long-haul arrivals, which helped to grow performance. Shanghai strengthened in the second half, supported by visa-free policies and the return of major events with cost discipline aiding our margins. Beijing faced softer demand early in the year amid the ongoing long-haul weakness of U.S. China geopolitical tensions.
However, performance improved later on the back of numerous diplomatic delegations, which supported our occupancy and rate across key periods. European operations delivered healthy results. RevPAR increased by 14% with strong momentum in rooms and events, supported by sustained brand visibility and the positive reviews and accolades from guests and media of our new hotels in London and Istanbul. Paris also saw strong results with the continued post-Olympics demand. Our U.S. portfolio delivered solid year-on-year improvement, supported by strong domestic travel, the post-renovation rebound of our property in New York, and steady group and leisure demand across major cities. RevPAR increased by 13%. The rest of our Asia properties delivered improving year-on-year performance, supported by targeted rate strategies, strong banquets and weddings, and successful regional programming. RevPAR for these properties increased by 19%.
Specifically, Tokyo achieved record-breaking metrics driven by the robust inbound travel during the sakura season, international groups and delegations. We're in the planning stages for a renovation of our guest rooms and other areas of the hotel to continue enhancing our services and amenities for our guests. Moving on to our commercial properties. The Repulse Bay delivered steady year-end results, supported by robust leasing momentum and improved occupancy of over 94%. The Retail Arcade benefited from an enhanced tenant mix and continued refurbishment, which helped to strengthen positioning and footfall. The Peak Tower recorded strong improvement in visitors, supported by refreshed offerings and the Peak Tram combo ticket success, as well as some new high-end retail and food and beverage tenants. From June onwards, the Peak complex collaborated with Hong Kong Disneyland to present the first ever Mickey in Real Life campaign.
Peak Tram's increased patronage, supported by successful brand collaborations together with Disney and Pop Mart, helped drive revenue, while cost efficiencies and initiatives supported strong EBITDA growth. Revenue at Peninsula Merchandising increased compared to the previous year, supported by the opening of our refreshed Peninsula boutique at Hong Kong International Airport and the successful launch of our new Hong Kong souvenirs collection. Our mid-autumn collaboration with Lane Crawford and the rollout of new lifestyle categories such as leather goods and whiskey were also highlights for Peninsula Merchandising. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's prime office market remains well supplied with high-quality office space. Despite our office market sentiment, St. John's Building remained resilient in 2025.
The Landmark Vietnam joint venture has expired as of the 15th of January 2026, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank our partners in Vietnam, the board, and all of our employees for their loyal contributions and for the great success of this property over many years. The successful launch of Primo Posto, located in Soho, our first freestanding restaurant concept featuring Milanese cuisine, marked an important milestone in extending our food and beverage portfolio and has received very positive feedback from both guests and media alike. With that, I'll now hand back over to Benjamin to discuss the future outlook.
Thank you, Gareth. Thank you, Keith. Turning to 2026. We remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook. Luxury travel demand continues to recover in several key markets and will continue to grow. While the operating landscape remains varied across regions, early indicators point to sustained appetite for authentic, personalized, and culturally rich luxury hospitality. The Peninsula Tokyo is expected to remain a top performer for the group, and our U.S. portfolio is also expected to remain a stable source of demand and brand visibility. The newer flagships in London and Istanbul continuing to build brand presence. The commercial portfolio is expected to remain resilient, buoyed by steady demand in key residential and retail assets, robust visitor interest in flagship destinations such as the Peak, and continued momentum in merchandising and experiential lifestyle platforms. Overall, we expect 2026 to be a year of steady progression.
By leveraging our world-class brand, our heritage, and pursuit of sustainable luxury, I believe we remain well-placed to navigate the evolving landscape and the company's future growth. We have seen that the group delivered a solid performance in 2025, reflecting the strength of our assets, our brand, and the commitment of our teams, and those results provide an important foundation, but they are only part of the story. I would like now to turn on the next chapter, our strategic review. This is about looking beyond the current numbers, stepping back, and sharing how we see the future of HSH. It is about the choices we are making today to ensure that the group remains relevant, distinctive, and value-creating for many years to come. I'll commence with our presentation just with a short video. What would we like you to remember from today's presentation?
We're going to try to make it easy for you guys. The key messages that are important is that, first of all, we are starting from a position of strength. We have a powerful brand, the Peninsula brand, we have an exceptional guest experience, and we have deep expertise. The luxury hospitality landscape is evolving, and therefore this is the right moment for us to move from strength to renewal. That is the purpose of Vision 2035, Perform and Transform. This new strategy is built on a number of initiatives, but I would like to highlight four. First, we will increase our operational and financial performance, unlocking the full potential of our existing assets. Let's do more with what we have.
Second, we will engage in an acceleration of our portfolio growth through more partnership, less ownership approach, expanding selectively, diversifying into resorts and residences, as well as doing so in a capital disciplined way. Third, we will reinvent our flagship properties for another era of excellence, starting with the most iconic, The Peninsula Hong Kong. Finally, we will expand The Peninsula brand beyond the four walls of our hotels into experiences, deepening guest engagement and capturing where luxury demand is increasingly heading. Let me now take you through the thinking behind this strategy. To frame our strategic choices, it is important to start with the fundamentals of the industry in which we operate. The luxury hospitality is a large and attractive market and one that is expected to continue growing over the long term.
What is particularly important is not only the absolute size of this market, but more the quality of its growth. Demand is being driven by structural trends rising global wealth, continued importance of travel and experiences, and the increasing premium placed on true luxury and differentiation. This backdrop gives us confidence. It tells us that the opportunity is there. The key question and the focus for our strategic review, therefore, is how can The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels position itself to capture this growth? Before presenting change, I'd like to remind something very important, which is very clear about where we stand today, and I mentioned that before. HSH is in a strong position today. The Peninsula brand enjoys genuine global recognition and remains synonymous with luxury.
Our guests consistently rate their Peninsula stay as world-class, and a large majority express a strong intention to return and to recommend us. We also benefit from distinctive expertise across multiple dimensions, service, facilities, design, where we are perceived to outperform. Beyond hotels, HSH is supported by a diversified portfolio of businesses and asset classes across geographies, providing balance and resilience to the group. Taken together, these elements give us confidence. They confirm that our foundations are strong and that we have the right platform from which to evolve. To illustrate the strength of The Peninsula brand, it consistently performs above its physical scale. Across key geographies, brand familiarity among luxury travelers is strong and compares very favorably with significantly larger peers.
What is important here to read on this chart is that at 51% brand recognition, the other number you want to focus on is the number of properties 12. We are only 20 percentage points lower than the leader in the market, who has over 10 x more properties than The Peninsula. The brand genuinely enjoys global recognition, as I mentioned. This dynamic really matters. It confirms the depth of our brand equity and the emotional connection we have with our guests. At the same time, it points to a clear strategic question. How can we thoughtfully leverage this strength over time without compromising what makes The Peninsula so distinctive? While we start from a position of strength, we are at the same time confronted with a number of challenges. The luxury hospitality industry is being reshaped.
A new generation of luxury travelers is emerging with expectations that go beyond traditional markers of luxuries. They are looking for highly personalized service, authenticity, and distinctive experiences. At the same time, competition is intensifying. Established peers and new entrants are expanding into new destinations, often with innovative concepts in areas such as dining, food and beverage, wellness, and lifestyle, and with a strong appeal to younger, aspirational guests. We are also seeing important shifts in how capital is deployed across the industry. This is changing the competitive landscape and raising the bar in terms of speed and flexibility. Alongside these external dynamics, we have been equally honest about our own internal challenges, sorry. I mean, our asset base remains relatively small. We have 12 hotels. This limits our ability to fully leverage the strength of our brand.
While our standards of quality are exceptionally high, we also see clear opportunities to further improve our operational performance. Speaking about performance over the past five years, we have made very tangible progress. The group has recovered from the unprecedented disruption of 2020 and moved beyond pre-COVID levels. This is a result of disciplined execution, the commitment of our teams, and a relentless focus on quality. At the same time, this trajectory also tells us something important. There is still meaningful upside ahead of us. In other words, our aim is to unlock the full potential of what we already have. Where are we headed? Well, Vision 2035 is our long-term ambition for HSH. It reflects how we see the future of the group and the balance we want to strike as we move forward.
At its core, this vision is about building a celebrated, growing, and innovative luxury lifestyle brand, one that performs strongly in the near term and transforms thoughtfully for the long term. With that ambition in mind, let me now walk you through how we translate this vision into concrete strategic priorities and actions. Our Vision 2035 is expressed through a very simple but very deliberate strategic framework, which we call Perform and Transform. At its core, this strategy recognizes that we must do two things at the same time. First, we must continue to strengthen the performance of what we already operate. This is about getting the group in the best possible shape, sharpening our fundamentals across brand and service, across dining, wellness, and lifestyle, but also revenue management, operational excellence, culture, and technology.
This is really the first train we're launching that has probably a three to five year horizon, this performance horizon. In parallel, we must also shape the future of the group. This is where the transformation comes in, and it is about placing selective, well-considered strategic bets that expand our opportunity set over time. It's about growing intentionally. It's about expanding the brand, reimagining what we have, which is our flagships, and increasing our capital efficiency. These two dimensions are not sequential. They actually reinforce each other. The stronger we are today, the more ambitious we can be in the future. Having introduced Perform and Transform as this foundation for our strategy, let me focus a little bit more on the Perform part, because this is the foundation of our strategy. We are focusing on four execution levers. First, and absolutely uncompromisingly, brand and service.
We will further strengthen what the Peninsula brand stands for, sharpen our commercial focus, and deepen customer loyalty. At the same time, we will elevate service through ultra-personalization, ensuring every guest experience feels truly individual. Secondly, food and beverage, dining, wellness, and lifestyle. Guest expectations continue to evolve, and our ambition is to differentiate the experiences through extraordinary dining concepts, renewed wellness and lifestyle experiences, while increasing the pace for innovation. Thirdly, revenue management and operational excellence. We see upside in reviewing distribution and yield management alongside continued progress in operational excellence, both at property level but also centrally in our head office, and again, without compromising the guest experience. Finally, our organization, our culture, and our technology adoption needs to continue to evolve.
To sustain excellence, we will continue fine-tuning our organization and investing further in technology, both guest-facing but also for our internal employees. In short, Perform is about disciplined execution, translating the strength of our assets and our brand into consistently stronger results. With that foundation in place, let me turn to the Transform part of the plan. The first Transform priority I would like to discuss is how do we embrace growth? We want to grow intentionally. Our ambition is not to pursue scale for its own sake. It is rather to be present in more destinations that truly matter to our most discerning guests. Let's go where our guests want us to go while preserving the sense of rarity, exclusivity that defines the Peninsula brand. We will also evolve the way we approach capital and partnerships.
While we continue to take equity stakes in selected developments where long-term ownership creates attractive value, in parallel, for other opportunities we may adopt a management agreement model, working with like-minded partners and sharing investment and risk. An approach that allows us to rebalance from asset-heavy to purely asset-light. No. It's gonna be what we call an Asset-Right. What is right for HSH to sustain the growth that we can afford and that is going to be accepted by our guests. Finally, we're very clear about where we want to grow. We focus on the most desirable global destinations, but with a broader mix that includes residence, but also includes a different class of assets, including branded residences, and with the objective of achieving a more balanced geographic footprint over time.
Having explained the logic between our approach to growth, let me now illustrate what this means in practical terms for our development pipeline. Today, our hotel portfolio remains relatively concentrated primarily in Asia, but in terms of geography, but also in the number of assets. This reflects our history, we were born in Hong Kong and grew from Hong Kong, but also our deliberate selectivity over time. At the same time, as we look ahead, we see a clear opportunity to build a richer and more balanced pipeline over the long term. By 2035, we envisage a significantly expanded scope compared with today, with a geographic profile that is more evenly balanced across regions. This evolution supports both growth and risk management while remaining fully consistent with our brand standards and our disciplined approach to capital.
Beyond growth, another critical pillar of our strategy is to reimagine our flagships. The Peninsula Hong Kong holds a truly special place in the world of luxury hospitality. In 2028, it will celebrate its 100th anniversary, a milestone that very few hotels globally can claim and one that carries both pride and responsibility. We see this anniversary not simply as a celebration of the past, but as a unique opportunity to look forward. Our ambition is to elevate and reinvent this iconic property by repositioning it as the leading hotel of the 21st century. The Peninsula Hong Kong 100th Anniversary program will also mark the beginning of a new chapter for the Peninsula brand itself, including a refreshed identity and a renewed narrative.
As we look to the future, we believe that the Peninsula brand has the potential to extend well beyond the traditional boundaries of the hotel itself. Luxury guests today are increasingly seeking experiences that are distinctive, immersive, and memorable. There is an area where HSH already has strong foundations. Across the group, we are offering a range of unique experiences from motoring and lifestyle events to bespoke journeys on land, at sea, and in the air. Looking ahead, we are exploring how these elements could be brought together in a more intentional and connected way.
For example, we may reflect on concepts that connect our properties, allowing guests to discover the Peninsula brand and the Peninsula world across regions in a way that feels both elegant and effortless. In doing so, we aim to deepen our relationship with our guests, strengthen brand loyalty, and thoughtfully expand what the Peninsula stands for, not just as a place to stay, but as a companion in the art of travel and discovery. As we come to a close, let me just take a step back and reflect on the journey we have shared with you this afternoon. HSH stands on a very strong foundation. We benefit from exceptional brand, a long tradition of excellence loyal guests, and a dedicated team across the group.
At the same time, we operate in an industry that is evolving rapidly, and these shifts require us to continue adapting with clarity and ambition. Our Vision 2035 Perform and Transform is our response to this context. Our aim is to ensure that HSH remains not only competitive but truly exceptional for the next era, and we will do so by unlocking the full potential of our existing assets, driving operational and financial performance, by accelerating the growth of our portfolio based on a more partnerships, less ownership approach, diversifying into resorts but also branded residences. Reinventing our flagship properties for another era of excellence, starting with The Peninsula Hong Kong, and finally expanding the brand beyond the four walls of our hotels into the fast-growing world of experiences.
I thank you for your attention, and we now look forward to engaging with you in the Q&A session that follows. Thank you.
Thank you, Benjamin. We now open the floor for questions. We'll start off with a question on the webcast. What is the company's plan to improve F&B profitability across the group?
Well, first and foremost, we want to make sure that we don't treat F&B purely as an amenity to our guests, but as a very strong performing business pillar for our business. That includes revisiting our existing concepts, reviewing how do we make sure that at city level or at property level, we remain competitive with a very dynamic environment, that we also embrace how talent is critical in the world of F&B, in the world of restaurants, investing in that talent and unleashing the potential of some amazing talent we may have in our properties.
I think we also have to be a bit more daring and innovative, but we are very encouraged by the resilience of the F&B world and by the strong competition that not only challenges us but excites us to go above and beyond and regain the positioning of equally exciting room product and experiences with food and beverage experiences. In fact as you may have heard in the presentation, we did a very innovative project in Hong Kong, which we'd not report under the hotel business. We report it under the other business, and we opened a beautiful restaurant called Primo Posto.
There's no sign of The Peninsula, there's no sign of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, but this is a way for us to make sure that we are also able to engage with a discerning audience to bring them something that is gonna be innovative, it's gonna be distinctive, and bring the know-how of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels in hospitality, but adapting it to a new format. The results have been very encouraging. The restaurant will be turning one year old in a couple of weeks, and this, I think, paves the way also to expand further in the world of food and beverage as standalone, but also to bring back the learnings of enabling a more entrepreneurial approach back to our hotels, our signature restaurants, and our all-day dining opportunities.
Hi, management. This is Jeff Yau from DBS. I get two questions. The first question is related to the existing hotel operation. Is there any disruption from the war in Middle East to the hotel operation year to date? The second question is about the more partnership and less ownership approach. That this apply to upcoming new hotels, new project, or this also applies to the existing hotel in operation? This mean would you consider introduce any third-party capital to your existing hotel operation?
Thank you. Let me answer the first question first. I think the geopolitical tensions that we have seen in the Middle East region is definitely impacting the travel industry and the hospitality industry overall. The restrictions on airlift makes that we, among everybody else, in our peer group, have been suffering some cancellations since the beginning of the conflict. However, I think it's a bit too early to say if this will have a material impact to our business. I tend to remind you know, our group that we're actually quite well-balanced from a geographical perspective, 25% of our hotels in the U.S., 25% in Europe, the rest in Asia, but again, between North Asia and Southeast Asia.
In fact, we do not have any physical presence in the Middle East. However, the Middle East is an important geographic mix to our business. We are very grateful to the patronage of many of our guests who originate from the Middle East, who are probably equally frustrated not to be able to travel at the moment. I don't think at this stage it's too early to, you know decide whether it's gonna be a material impact, but we're definitely watching this closely. The second question was, I think with regards to our business model and how do we treat our what I coined less ownership, more partnership. Maybe it's important to set a bit of context here as well.
Out of the 12 properties that we have under the Peninsula brand today in the hotel division, 25% of them are already on the shared ownership perspective. It's all reported in our annual report, so I'm not revealing any in-house secrets. We own 20% only of our hotels in The Peninsula Beverly Hills and in The Peninsula Paris, and we are in a joint venture at a 50/50 equity stake in The Peninsula Istanbul. Partnership is not something new to HSH. What we are willing to establish going forward is to balance, depending on the project, depending on the geography, depending on the expertise, two different things. One, do we want to continue to own 100% of the operations, or do we want to find a partner?
What level of equity do we want to take in? But also very importantly, that's why we. Sorry, to finish on that. We want to play within an asset-heavy and an asset-light model and decide what sometimes we decide to put equity or not, and what I coined again, the Asset-Right strategy rather than asset-light or an asset-heavy. That's the first thing. There's another important component to how we want to really focus the business going forward, is the diversification of the type of asset class that we have, particularly when it comes to branded residences. The branded residences offers another way to generate high revenues but also bring more profitability to fund maybe more hotel projects, which we know require more patient capital.
Asset-Right when it comes to partnership, but also diversification and push into more residences like we have done in London recently. You know, we almost sold out of the 24 units in London. In fact, we sold one of the residences in the last quarter of 2025, which was not particularly a very forthcoming period in the world economy. I mean, it was particularly in London, nothing spectacular that could have engaged more people to confirm their intention to buy. In fact, in the first two months of 2026, we have actually completed another transaction and we are actively discussing a couple more. We're actually quite energized and encouraged by the momentum, despite the geopolitical tensions and despite the maybe less favorable real estate market in London.
I think if you have quality, if you have commitment to excellence, and you have a long-term vision, the products that we are going to put available in the market can attract the right level of investors who also have a long-term strategy.
Hi, this is Raymond Liu from HSBC. You mentioned that you're gonna be looking at new experiences and new type of resorts. Will this be via new brands or you guys will leverage your existing brand? What would the strategy be, in terms of diversification?
At this stage, we really want to focus on the Peninsula brand hospitality vision. It's a uniquely celebrated brand, and yet it only has 12 properties across the globe. If you look at the type of property we have, they're very much city hotels. Beautiful landmarks, some historical, like this one here, some a bit more recent in the history. We actually, in June 2025, will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of our The Peninsula Chicago hotel. Later in the year, we'll celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Peninsula Beverly Hills. Those are our more recent city hotels, but still very important in the landscape of what we have. The Peninsula brand is our focus. At the same time, I think our guests are evolving.
They are asking us to go where they want to go, and they're asking us to provide us alternative options to city hotels. Hence the residences and hence the resort ideas and the different formats. Probably smaller number of keys, a strong residential component, and in further away locations than the city centers that we have traditionally and historically and successfully invested in.
Thank you.
All right. Thank you.
Hi, it's Eric Wong from Mizuho. Just two questions from your transformed strategy. By 2035, do you have sort of like a targeted number of assets or hotel or restaurant you would like to have? Obviously, it depends on situation. Second question is as you mentioned, you want to have a more balanced sort of like portfolio among EMEA, Asia, and Europe. Currently or down the road in the plan, are there any preferred or focus size cities or slash countries that you'd be looking at? Thank you.
Sure. I mentioned before that we're not chasing growth for growth. It's not a numbers game. We haven't set ourselves a target of how many hotels to reach. Why? Because there's so much respect for the exclusivity that the Peninsula brand holds, that we don't want to dilute that exclusivity by going too fast or by just trying to achieve a target for a target. More importantly, we really want to make sure that we grow where our guests expect us to take them to. We have an ambition that you know we want to reflect. The second thing I would like to say, and I don't want not to commit to a number, but I want to explain more the logic. We set a 10 year strategy, right? We wanted to balance it.
Balance it in what we can achieve without having to open hotels, and that's the perform plan. Let's do that anyway. We don't need to wait to open a hotel to do better with what we have. Secondly, we know it takes a few years to open a hotel, and we need to activate our pipeline. 10 year vision is quite far away. Given the constraints and the cycle, the length of the cycle of filling that pipeline and delivering the hotels, we don't want, you know, to have to be locked and constrained by a number that we would give you. We prefer to have strong beliefs, strong values in how we will intentionally grow and deliver that growth at the right pace and the right time.
I can tell you that these gentlemen and the whole team and ladies that we have in the team have set some pretty ambitious targets for themselves, and I hope we can deliver them. Second question is where should we grow? To understand where do our guests want us to grow. If we look at the trends and from the research that we've conducted last year during our strategic review, we definitely see a very strong appeal for more European destinations, and particularly Southern Europe. It's an interesting destination because it attracts European guests, which you know have been celebrating the brand with London, with Istanbul, with Paris. We celebrated 10 years in Paris last year.
It's also a very, very attractive market for American tourists and, under normal circumstances, for the Middle Eastern travelers. We go where our guests want us to go. This is a region where they want to go. I personally think Japan is an underserved market for luxury hospitality and luxury branded residences. It's a new emerging product that we can see in Japan. It's quite underserved today. We'd like to continue and ride on the success of almost 20 years of presence in Japan with a bit more focus. The obvious question is we're not in the Middle East. Every peer and competitor has established a presence.
While we have you know a great patronage from guests coming from the Middle East, being able to establish a presence going forward in that region would be, I think also a big addition to our network.
We'll now take on one more question from the webcast. What is the company's dividend plan based on the new strategic plan?
Could you repeat the question, please?
What is the company's dividend plan based on the new strategic plan from the company?
I'll defer the question to Keith when it's complicated. Can you please, I think one more time, repeat the question?
Yeah. Can you repeat that again, please?
Dividend.
Dividend, okay.
Oh, right.
Oh, you can take that one.
Okay. We do as you know, we adopt the dividend policy of, you know providing shareholders with a stable and sustainable dividend stream. Obviously predicated on a number of things, including the underlying earnings achieved, commercial factors such as current and future cash flows, CapEx spend, financing costs, et c., Each dividend payment being determined by the board obviously, and that's based on their assessments at this particular time. Obviously, we cannot provide guidance on a forecast for you, at this current time. Obviously the board do look at this, and do assess based on those factors.
Thank you, Keith. We've one last question from the webcast. Is the group considering disposing any of our existing assets?
I mean at this stage we know we have a very comprehensive collection of assets. Some are trophy assets. Patient capital is something that has defined us. It's something that we've been celebrating. At the same time, I think you know going forward as we are going to reinvest into the business, we talked about you know reinvesting in The Peninsula Hong Kong, fueling the growth. I think we have to at times maybe reconsider, you know, disposing of some of the assets. No, nothing in the immediate short term that we have. I think as part of the strategic review, this has enabled us also to reconsider and to really understand it better what we have and how can we extract the most value out of it.
If there are no additional questions, we will now conclude our presentation. Thank you for coming. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.