Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s first-quarter profit fell 6.7%, but increased revenue outpaced analyst expectations, and the company has raised its 2011 earnings forecast for the third time.
Starwood reports profit of US$28 million, or 14 cents a share, down from US$30 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding one-off charges, earnings from continuing operations rose to 30 cents from 13 cents, outpacing its February forecast of 22 to 26 cents. RevPAR for the quarter rose 10.4% systemwide and was slightly higher in North America.
Revenue jumped 9.1% to US$1.3 billion, slightly exceeding Wall Street expectations.
“We were able to exceed expectations despite turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East and the devastating earthquake in Japan,” says CEO Frits van Paasschen. “This is thanks to our laser focus on growing faster than the market and flowing this outperformance down to the bottom-line.
“The outlook for the rest of the year looks promising as we view the events of the past few months as not having derailed the overall global economic recovery. For example, our group and transient bookings remain robust. As such, we remain cautiously confident for 2011 and are bullish about our long-term prospects.”
During the quarter, Starwood signed 29 hotel management and franchise contracts, representing approximately 8,700 guestrooms, and opened 21 hotels and resorts with approximately 5,200 guestrooms. Eleven properties, representing approximately 3,400 guestrooms, were removed from the system during the quarter.
Starwood reports profit of US$28 million, or 14 cents a share, down from US$30 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding one-off charges, earnings from continuing operations rose to 30 cents from 13 cents, outpacing its February forecast of 22 to 26 cents. RevPAR for the quarter rose 10.4% systemwide and was slightly higher in North America.
Revenue jumped 9.1% to US$1.3 billion, slightly exceeding Wall Street expectations.
“We were able to exceed expectations despite turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East and the devastating earthquake in Japan,” says CEO Frits van Paasschen. “This is thanks to our laser focus on growing faster than the market and flowing this outperformance down to the bottom-line.
“The outlook for the rest of the year looks promising as we view the events of the past few months as not having derailed the overall global economic recovery. For example, our group and transient bookings remain robust. As such, we remain cautiously confident for 2011 and are bullish about our long-term prospects.”
During the quarter, Starwood signed 29 hotel management and franchise contracts, representing approximately 8,700 guestrooms, and opened 21 hotels and resorts with approximately 5,200 guestrooms. Eleven properties, representing approximately 3,400 guestrooms, were removed from the system during the quarter.