Hotel operator Millennium and Copthorne (M&C) has received a boost after pre-tax profits for the fourth quarter of 2009 more than doubled, when compared with the same period in 2008.

Despite posting a 20 per cent decrease in pre-tax profits for the full-year, the UK-based group said that it had exceeded market expectations in its results for both Q4 and the 12 months ending 31 December 2009. M&C - operator of more than 100 hotels around the world - also revealed that it had been "encouraged" by early trading for the current year, but admitted it was "too early to predict the trading performance for 2010".

Chair Kwek Leng Beng said: "For the year as a whole the results are very pleasing owing, in large part, to tough, prudent and analytical management which has served us well in navigating through stormy seas to calmer waters. "We have benefited from ownership of a wide geographical spread of properties which has smoothed the overall impact of the economic crisis."

M&C's results followed news that InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) reported signs of improvement during the fourth quarter of 2009, despite operating profits declining by a third for the full year.