US hotel operator Marriott International posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Monday, as the coronavirus crisis curbed global travel and led to a plunge in room bookings.
Marriott’s shares, down 40.3% this year, fell 3% in premarket trading as the company also reported an 84.4% plunge in revenue per available room (RevPAR) – a key performance measure for the hotel industry.
However, Marriott echoed smaller rival Hilton’s comments from last week, saying it now expects a gradual rise in occupancy rates across the world although it may take a few years for them to return to the pre-Covid-19 period demand levels.
“While our business continues to be profoundly impacted by Covid-19, we are seeing steady signs of demand returning”, chief executive officer Arne Sorenson said in a statement, adding that Greater China continued to lead the recovery.
Marriott said it was seeing a recovery across all regions, with global occupancy rates of 34% for the week ended Aug 1, up from 11% in week ended April 11. In China, occupancy levels have reached 60%.
The company said it has reopened 91% of its worldwide hotels, compared with 74% in April.
On an adjusted basis, Marriott reported a loss of 64 cents per share in the second quarter ended June 30, bigger than analysts’ expectation of a loss of 42 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Marriott previously reported a quarterly net loss in 2011 due to a charge related to its now spun-off timeshare business.
Total revenue plunged 72.4% to US$1.46 bil (RM6.11 bil), missing estimates of US$1.68 bil. – Aug 10, 2020, Reuters
