Marriott International Inc, the largest US hotel operator, on July 14, said quarterly profit, excluding one-time charges, rose as an upswing in travel drove rooom rates and occupancy higher The Bethesda, Maryland-based company said second-quarter net income, including special items, fell to $138 million, or 59 cents a share, from $160 million, or 67 cents a share, a year earlier.
But excluding the one-time items, such as charges related to the acquisition of hotels and joint ventures from CTF Holdings, the hotel chain earned 75 cents a share. Analysts, on average, were expecting 77 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Marriott spokeswoman Laura Paugh said most analysts did not account for the charge of 26 cents a share related to CTF Holdings. On that basis, Marriott earned 85 cents a share, she said. Marriott shares have risen almost 58 percent since April last year, when the hotel chain began raising room rates for the first time since the September 11, 2001, attacks, which were followed by a multi-year slump in travel.
Marriott, whose brands include Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance and Fairfield Inn, said revenue rose 11 percent to $2.7 billion, beating analysts' estimates of $2.59 billion. Revenue per available room, a key measure of health in the lodging industry, rose 10 percent at Marriott-operated North American hotels open at least a year. That growth was dirven by an 8.5 increase in average daily room rates.