After Marriott International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has reported positive first quarter 2010 financial results.

Published: 30 Apr 2010

After Marriott International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has reported positive first quarter 2010 financial results.

Starwood -- whose brands include W Hotels, Westin and Sheraton -- reported a profit of $30 million, or 16 cents a share, up from $6 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue climbed 5 percent to $1.19 billion from $1.13 billion.

Frits van Paasschen, CEO said, “Lodging demand for our nine global brands accelerated as we moved through the first quarter, allowing us to beat expectations on robust top-line growth. We continued to hold the line on costs. Most encouraging for us was that occupancy gains were led by the luxury market. This benefits Starwood, thanks to our leading presence in the four and five star categories. With the depths of the downturn

behind us, we have a long runway ahead as we move into the upcycle.”

Some of the highlights

• Worldwide System-wide RevPAR for Same-Store Hotels increased 6.3 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009. System-wide RevPAR for Same-Store Hotels in North America increased 2.8 percent (1.2 percent in constant dollars).
• Management and franchise revenues increased 5.6 percent compared to 2009.
• Worldwide RevPAR for Starwood branded Same-Store Owned Hotels increased 6.6 percent (2.1 percent in constant dollars) compared to the first quarter of 2009. RevPAR for Starwood branded Same-Store Owned Hotels in North America increased 5.8 percent.

Recently, Marriott International returned to a first-quarter profit, exceeding its revenue per available room (RevPAR). 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.