Good news in the hospitality sector, at least for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., first quarter earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations. According to RevPAR, performance of Starwood same-store hotels grew worldwide by some 3.4 percent.
In quarter one of 2013, net income attributable to the company climbed to $213 million or roughly $1.09 per share from $128 million or $0.65 per share over the year before. According the the release from BusinessWire via MarketWatch, Starwood’s first quarter highlights included:
- An EPS from continuing operations of $0.76 with EPS from continuing operations was $0.73
- An adjusted EBITDA of $315 million, which included $58 million of EBITDA from the St. Regis Bal Harbour residential project
- Income from continuing operations was $148 million
- Systemwide REVPAR for Same-Store Hotels in North America increased 6.2% in constant dollars (6.2% in actual dollars).
- Worldwide Same-Store Company-Operated gross operating profit margins increased approximately 52 basis points compared to 2012.
- REVPAR for Starwood worldwide increased 3.4% in constant dollars (3.1% in actual dollars) compared to 2012.
Frits van Paasschen, CEO, offered this comment on the good news:
“We had a solid first quarter across all lines of our business. Our management and franchise fees grew strongly, and despite our sale of 11 hotels, earnings at our owned portfolio exceeded last year’s levels, driven by great performance at our North American properties. We grew REVPAR Index as we captured more than our fair share of global growth. And at Bal Harbour, we’ve now sold and closed on approximately 86% of the residences. Overall, the global lodging recovery continues along the trend lines we’ve been seeing. Tight supply is driving higher room rates in North America, and our footprint continues to expand in the growing economies. We are seeing more interest among real estate buyers for both vacation ownership and our owned hotels.”
With hotels worldwide on a downward prifitabiliy trend, this news from Starwood reveals the potential is out there for companies which gear their efforts at value correctly. As of this writing Starwood is up by 0.37 per.
