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Sarmad N. Zok
CEO, Kingdom Hotel Investments
Sarmad N Zok, who has been Kingdom Hotels Investments (KHI) chief executive officer since 2001 and led the company’s Initial Public Offering in 2006, was promoted to the full board of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) at the end of June 2010.
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With the promotion, he took responsibility for the strategic development of the parent company’s giant global portfolio, including iconic properties such as London’s Savoy Hotel, managed by Fairmont, as well as IFA Hotels and Resorts.
In total, KHI is invested in 27 hotels in 19 countries, with some of the most prestigious Middle East properties including Four Seasons hotels in Damascus, Syria, Amman, Jordan and Nile Plaza, Cairo, and Mövenpicks in Beirut, Lebanon and Bur Dubai in the UAE.
Three groups make up the majority of the company’s investments — Four Seasons, Mövenpick and Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) — with an investment also in InterContinental in Zambia.
One of the most recent openings over the course of the past year was Four Seasons Beirut, while a Four Seasons in Marrakech, Morocco is due to open by the end of 2010.
In terms of financial results, diversification into markets such as Beirut and Kenya has helped lift portfolio performance. The firm increased reported net profits by 27% during 2009 to $21.8 million.
KHI made the headlines several times in 2010, with KHC buying up the rest of the shares it didn’t own in KHI in March and the sale of a 40% stake in FRHI from KHC to Qatari Diar and Voyager in April.
In addition, Zok has said that the time for divestment may be near for some of the hotels that KHI owns. For the rest of 2010, he said in a recent interview with Arabian Business that the focus was on consolidation.
“We will focus on streamlining our processes, investing in our systems and capabilities and rationalising the portfolio ahead of an expected increase in M&A activity sometime in 2011,” said Zok.
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