Starwood profit soars on hotel revenue growth

uggboy · Apr 27, 2012

Starwood profit soars on hotel revenue growth

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s HOT +0.69% first-quarter profit more than quadrupled, with core results easily topping expectations, as a key revenue metric continued to improve.

Starwood, the owner Westin, Sheraton and the W Hotels brand, has reported higher revenue over the past year as worldwide business travel recovers. The company is investing more aggressively in emerging markets like China and India to take advantage of the huge growth opportunities their growing middle classes present.

"Going into the year, we said that 2012 was more likely to surprise on the upside," Chief Executive Frits van Paasschen said. "So far, that is playing out."

The hotel chain received two more votes of confidence during the quarter after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and Moody's Investors Service both lifted the company's credit status into investment-grade territory, citing its effective operating strategy and improving prospects as the U.S. economy recovers.

The latest earnings improved against year-earlier result hit by a steep charge tied to Starwood's minority stake in a Tokyo hotel, which took a write-down following the country's devastating earthquake disaster.

Starwood reported a profit of $128 million, or 65 cents a share, up from $28 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding year-earlier write-downs and other adjustments, per-share earnings from continuing operations jumped to 63 cents from 30 cents. In February, the company predicted a per-share profit between 49 cents and 53 cents.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/starwood-profit-soars-on-hotel-revenue-growth-2012-04-26

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