BETHESDA, MARYLAND Second-quarter earnings for Marriott International Inc. have topped consensus expectations by a relatively significant margin, reinforcing optimism that the hotel industry is emerging from its two-year slumber.
Marriott has posted per-share earnings of 31 cents, beating Wall Street’s anticipated return of 29 cents. The company’s EBITDA of US$278 million is 8% higher than the US$257 million target.
Marriott’s Ritz-Carlton division and its properties in Asia led the company’s performance in the second quarter. Perhaps most noteworthy for the industry at large is that Marriott’s luxury and upscale segments posted the largest RevPAR gains, while downmarket hotels showed weaker RevPAR growth.
Marriott has raised its low-end guidance generally, and it boosts expectations for international RevPAR growth to between 6% and 8%.
The company opened 6,500 guestrooms in the second quarter. Going forward, Asia comprises about 39% of its global pipeline of 95,000 guestrooms.