Hilton net gets strong push from acquisition
The hotel company posts a 13% jump in quarterly profit
By Gary Gentile / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES » Hilton Hotels Corp. reported strong earnings growth yesterday in the second quarter as it prepared to be acquired by the Blackstone Group.
The worldwide hotel and resort company, which has a presence in Hawaii, reported net income of $165 million, or 40 cents a share, for the quarter ended June 30, up from $144 million, or 35 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Revenue increased to $2.085 billion from $2.005 billion in the year-ago period.
Excluding one-time items, earnings per share increased to 38 cents for the quarter, the company said.
The results beat expectations from analysts, who had been looking for earnings of 33 cents per share and revenue of $2.07 billion, according to Thomson Financial.
Worldwide, revenue per available room, a key measure in the lodging industry, grew 8.9 percent due to rate increases and strong demand, the company said.
Management and franchise fees increased 16 percent to $201 million in the quarter. Revenue and profit also increased at the hotels owned by the company.
"Our operations continue to be very strong across the board," Matthew J. Hart, Hilton's president and chief operating officer said.
In the second quarter, the company added 71 properties and 9,436 rooms to its system, including new Hilton hotels in Dallas, New Orleans, Limerick, Ireland, Venice, Italy, and Valencia, Spain.