The skyline of downtown Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor is seen from the Peak July 7 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Ltd said on Monday that it was considering a spin-off for its hotel operations and expected its first half net profit to increase significantly.

Its net profit for the first six months of 2011 was boosted by rising travel demand on economic recovery and a lower comparison base the same period last year, the company said in a statement.

China's rapidly rising demand for business and leisure travels is expected to give travel agencies and airlines in the nation a boost in terms of revenue and profit.

The company, which is engaged in travel, theme park, hotel, resort and other businesses, made a provision on its ferry business in the first half of 2010. Certain fixed assets in its resort operations were fully depreciated last year, it added.

China Travel will announce its first half results in August.

In a separate statement released earlier on Monday, China Travel said it was considering a spin-off of its hotel operations in a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The company said it is also in talks to buy Qingdao Ocean Spring and invest in a project in Jiangsu province.

However, the spinoff and acquisition plans were in the early stages and had yet to be finalised, it said in a statement.

Trading in China Travel shares was expected to resume on Tuesday after being suspended on Monday pending the statement, it added.

Shares of China Travel had gone up about 13 percent in the past three weeks but are still down nearly 20 percent from the end of last year. It has underperformed a 3 percent drop in the Hang Seng Index so far this year.