Marriott International Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, announced on Wednesday that it posted a loss of US$179 million during the third quarter.
The company’s earnings were dragged down by a downturn in its timeshare business, which brought it into the red after the company posted an $83 million profit in the third quarter of 2010. The company announced earlier this year that it plans to spin-out its timeshare business, which includes the Marriott Vacation Club International.
Despite the loss, the company saw a boost in average RevPAR of 8.7% and daily rate of 5.3% as adusted net income increased to US$104 million, a 25% year-on-year increase. Marriott also repurchased 18.0 million shares of the company’s common stock for $550 million during the quarter. Year-to-date through September 9, 2011, the company repurchased 36.5 million shares for $1.2 billion.
“Despite continued economic uncertainty, revenue per available room growth was very strong and adjusted EPS rose 32%,” said J.W. Marriott, Jr., Marriott International chairman and CEO. “We are cautiously optimistic about 2012 and are well-positioned for continued growth. We expect to add approximately 30,000 rooms in 2012, most of which are already under construction and included in our 105,000 room development pipeline.”
For the fourth quarter, the company is predicting that RevPAR will continue to increase but that overall it will remain in the red with a US$5 million loss, totaling an US$11 million loss for the year.
Marriott says that in the fourth quarter North American comparable systemwide RevPAR will increase 6% to 8%. Outside North America, the company assumes fourth quarter 2011 comparable systemwide RevPAR on a constant dollar basis will increase 3% to 5%, or 5% to 7% excluding the Middle East and Japan markets.
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