Starwood profits surge 350%
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has reported a strong set of results for the first quarter of 2012, with net profits jumping 357% to US$128 million, up from US$28 million in the same period last year.
The company’s revenues increased 32% year-on-year to US$1.72 billion.
Company-wide revenue per available room (revPAR) climbed 6.4% in US dollar terms, led by hotels in the Latin America region which saw revPAR surge 14.4%. Asia Pacific hotels also saw strong growth, with revPAR climbing 6.2%. Starwood’s global occupancy averaged 65.3% in Q1 2012, up from 62.7% in the same period last year, while average daily rates (ADR) climbed 1.7% to US$169.
Unsurprisingly Starwood’s high-end St Regis and Luxury Collection hotels achieved the highest ADR, at US$292, followed by W Hotels (US$266), Westin (US$183), Le Meridien (US$182), Sheraton (US$147), Four Points (US$116) and Aloft (US$107). W Hotels was the only brand to achieve average occupancy levels in excess of 70%.
The company opened 18 new properties last quarter, and removed five. This added a net 3,500 rooms to the Starwood global inventory, which now totals 325,604 rooms from 1,103 hotels.