Revenue and Data Management

Marriott International has returned to a first-quarter profit, exceeding its revenue per available room (RevPAR) and diluted earnings per share (EPS) expectations.

Published: 23 Apr 2010

Marriott International has returned to a first-quarter profit, exceeding its revenue per available room (RevPAR) and diluted earnings per share (EPS) expectations.

For the three months that ended March 26, Marriott earned $83 million. That compares with a loss of $23 million in the same period last year.

J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, “In the first quarter we welcomed increasing numbers of business guests to our hotels as travelers got back to work in most markets around the world.”

Corporate roomnights for the Marriott Hotels & Resort brand in North America rose 16 percent in the first quarter as business demand strengthened dramatically.

At the same time, leisure demand remained solid as vacationers “continued to find memorable holiday experiences and good values,” added Marriott, Jr.

He added, “While first quarter room rates were generally lower than last year, as occupancy levels continue to improve, we see higher room rates on the horizon. In fact, we anticipate that North American systemwide RevPAR will increase by 3 to 6 percent for the full year 2010 with higher room rates by year end. International demand trends are even stronger. We expect RevePAR outside North America will increase 4 - 7 percent on a constant dollar basis in 2010 reflecting strong demand in Europe, South America and Asia.”

Revenues

Marriott revenues totaled over $2.6 billion in the 2010 first quarter compared to approximately $2.5 billion for the first quarter of 2009.

Base management and franchise fees rose 1 percent to $216 million reflecting fees from new hotels offset by slightly lower RevPAR. First quarter incentive management fees declined seven percent to $40 million.

Outlook

For the second quarter, the company assumes comparable systemwide REVPAR on a constant dollar basis will increase 4-6 percent in North America, 8-10 percent outside North America and 5-7 percent worldwide.

For the full year 2010, the company assumes comparable systemwide REVPAR on a constant dollar basis will increase 3-6 percent in North America, 4-7 percent outside North America and 3-6 percent worldwide.

The company expects to open 25,000 to 30,000 rooms in 2010 as most hotels expected to open are already under construction or undergoing conversion from other brands.