Hilton Worldwide has posted a strong set of financial results for 2014, as the company exceeded its full-year profit forecast.
The US-based hotel group generated adjusted pre-tax profits of US$2.51 billion last year, up 13.5% compared to 2013. Total revenues climbed 7.9% to US$10.5bn, while Hilton’s full-year operating profits surged 51.8% to US$1.67bn.
Christopher J. Nassetta, Hilton’s president & CEO, said 2014 was a “banner year” for his company.
“Our fourth quarter and full-year results exceeded our expectations for adjusted EBITDA and fee growth, as did our full-year revPAR growth. Additionally, we continued to increase the value of shareholder equity by further reducing our long-term debt by US$1bn through voluntary prepayments during 2014,” he stated.
Hilton’s revPAR (revenue per available room) increased 7.1% in 2014, to US$105.63. This was driven by a 2.4% rise in occupancy, to 74.6%, and a 3.7% increase in average daily rate, to US$141.52.
The Americas saw the strongest revPAR growth, climbing 7.4% to US$103, followed by Europe (+6.1% to US$129), Asia Pacific (+4.9% to US$111) and Middle East & Africa (+4.4% to US$105).
In terms of development, Hilton opened 240 hotels in 2014, adding more than 40,000 rooms to its global inventory. And the company claims to have the “largest rooms pipeline in the lodging industry”, with 230,000 rooms expected to open in the coming years. This has been boosted by the launch of two new brands in 2014 – Canopy by Hilton and the Curio Collection.
And Nassetta said he is confident that the successes of last year will continue into 2015.
“Looking ahead, we are optimistic that 2015 will bring continued strong performance and growth, with global revPAR expected to increase 5-7%. Given our expanding development pipeline, we expect net unit growth in managed and franchised rooms of 6-7%,” he added.
Comments are closed.