power of love - Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants

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global advertising campaigns.” One of Dickie’s earliest exposures to the distinctive hospitality style of Asian hotels was a stay at the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore when he was at PwC. “One thing I very much enjoyed, even before joining the group, was the great welcome, the service, and the smiles of the staff, which in my view is what it’s all about in the hospitality industry,” he observes. It was probably a welcome change from his experiences of British hotel service standards (the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park did not open until six years after he moved to Hong Kong). British born, Dickie earned a bachelor of arts honours degree in business studies from Sheffield Hallam University in northern England, graduating in 1985. In 1988 he became an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and a fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs in 1998. He worked as an audit manager for a medium-sized accounting firm in the City of London, which, he says, gave him broadbased experience of many aspects of his cli- A PLUS ents’ businesses. “I worked on auditing and tax advisory for a number of different businesses including stock jobbers prior to the ‘Big Bang,’ stockbrokers, lawyers, insurance companies and banks, as well as sole traders including a butcher, a baker – but not a candlestick maker – and other retailers. “I audited a racetrack – Epsom, where they have the Derby every year – a nightclub and various pubs, and also worked on music publishers, and companies in the light manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Oh, and not forgetting, an oil company. It was a wonderful foundation for being able to assimilate a wide array of information quickly later on in my career,” he recalls. Wanting to see more of the world, Dickie applied for a position at what was then Coopers & Lybrand in Hong Kong, where he acted as audit manager for a range of companies, including AT&T, Philip Morris and, after the merger with Price Waterhouse, a number of members of the Jardine Group, including Hongkong Land, Colliers Jardine, Gammon Construction and Mandarin Oriental. Dickie reached a career turning point when he worked on the due diligence aspects of Mandarin Oriental’s acquisition of the Monte Carlo-based Rafael Group in 2000. “I got to know the management team well and I also really liked the culture of the company. It was an exciting time for Mandarin Oriental. They were embarking on a focused strategy of growth, leveraging the strength of their brand, which although well known within Asia was not well known in other parts of the world at the time.” He learned the hotel business fast, working on asset disposals as well as acquisitions, re-financings, investor relations, tax strategy and group treasury activities. “We made some record disposals,” Dickie recalls. “For example, our disposal of a part share of Mandarin Oriental, New York, in February 2007 to Dubai World was sold at a record price of US$1.4 million per key, the highest price per room for a hotel in the United States at the time. I believe this record still stands today given that the U.S. is not yet fully recovered from the global financial crisis.” In 2007 he was also responsible for negotiating a US$450 million seven-year loan from a syndicate of over 20 banks, secured on the group’s two wholly owned Hong Kong hotels – the Mandarin Oriental and The Excelsior. “The loan has, as it is still in February 2013 31
Success ingredient 32 January 2013 place, record low pricing of 0.28 percent from the borrower’s perspective. Given that loans have [been] re-priced upwards since the onset of the global financial crisis, I am not sure what pricing we would achieve today,” says Dickie. That crisis has also affected the group’s expansion plans. “Before that we were looking at greenfield sites and at building resorts in various places. Now we’ve got the same number of opportunities, but many of them are for existing hotels that have struggled since the financial crisis under another brand or operator,” he explains. Dickie says that at any one time he is looking at the financial aspects of 30 to 40 possible properties or locations for Mandarin Ori-
Page 1: Issue 2 volume 9 February 2013 THE
Page 4 and 5: Your chop Your Logo PHOTO: JOAN BOI
Page 6 and 7: From left: James Riley, Carlson Ton
Page 8 and 9: Spain falls deeper into recession a
Page 10 and 11: NEWS GREATER CHINA Economic rebound
Page 12 and 13: Auditors asked to enhance IPO due-d
Page 14 and 15: Hong Kong executives had at least o
Page 16 and 17: Local regulators agree, saying that
Page 18 and 19: But by working together - and focus
Page 20 and 21: “We as CPAs can become an even mo
Page 22 and 23: 4 “Firstly, technology has helped
Page 24 and 25: Excel program originally for Apple
Page 26 and 27: The iconic Mandarin Oriental Hong K
Page 30 and 31: At any one time he is looking at...
Page 32 and 33: TALENT age of more senior staff in
Page 34 and 35: “avoiding... headcount reductions
Page 36 and 37: Judy and Andrew Tsui she pursued a
Page 38 and 39: He recalls deciding whether or not
Page 42 and 43: Forensic accounting Winning the bat
Page 44 and 45: 123 TechWatch The latest standards
Page 46 and 47: Tech Q&A The Institute has recently
Page 48 and 49: People on the move The latest profe
Page 50 and 51: Lacking Sydney’s spectacular harb
Page 52 and 53: Celebrating Cognac The after-dinner
Page 54: Beware of emails beginning “Dear

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