Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (HLT.N), the owner of the Waldorf Astoria hotel chain, reported a higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit, as more people booked rooms at higher prices, and raised its 2017 earnings forecast yet again.
Hilton, which also owns the Conrad and the Double Tree hotel chains, said it now expects 2017 adjusted earnings in a range of $1.78 and $1.85 per share, up from $1.73 to $1.81 per share forecast previously.
The company also raised it full-year forecast for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to a range of $1.88 billion to $1.92 billion, from $1.86 billion to $1.90 billion.
Hilton, like its hotel industry peers, is benefiting from an uptick in corporate demand, as companies spend more based on improved business sentiment following Donald Trump’s election as president in November.
System-wide occupancy rose 0.4 percent in the second quarter ended June 30, while average daily room rate rose 1.2 percent.
RevPAR, a key measure of hotel health calculated by multiplying a hotel’s average daily room rate by its occupancy rate, increased 1.8 percent.
Net income attributable to Hilton stockholders was $166 million, or 51 cents per share, in the second quarter.
The company’s net income in the year-ago quarter was $239 million, or 72 cents per share, reflecting $144 million from discontinued operations.
Excluding items, Hilton earned 52 cents in the quarter.
Revenue rose to $2.35 billion from $1.95 billion.
Analysts on average had expected quarterly earnings of 50 cents per share and revenue of $2.33 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
