Hilton’s revenue beats Street estimates on record lodging prices

(In Oct 25 story, corrects paragraph 7 to say revenue figure refers to nine-month period, not third quarter)

By Doyinsola Oladipo and Priyamvada C

(Reuters) -Hilton Worldwide Holdings beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and lifted its annual forecast on Wednesday, as record lodging prices and higher occupancy levels boosted results.

Hotel and resort operators are benefiting from the global rebound in travel as consumers continue to plan vacations despite inflation and the higher cost of travel compared to pre-pandemic.

Shares were down 1.1% at $148 in premarket trading.

Hilton, which owns brands including Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, said its third-quarter revenue per available room, an important metric in the hospitality industry, rose 6.8% from a year earlier.

“We continued to see strong results during the third quarter, exceeding our expectations for system-wide RevPAR growth, with growth across all customer segments,” said Christopher Nassetta, chief executive officer of Hilton, in a statement.

This sets the stage for other hospitality firms such as Marriott International (NASDAQ:) and Airbnb, which will reports results next week.

Hilton’s revenue per available room in the third quarter saw significant recovery in Asia, up 65.5% year-to-date compared to the year earlier. Occupancy levels rose 18.9% in the same period.

The company’s third-quarter revenue rose to $2.67 billion, exceeding the average Wall Street estimate of $2.64 billion, according to LSEG data.

Adjusted earnings of $1.67 per share met average analysts’ estimate.

Hilton now expects annual adjusted profit between $6.04 and $6.09 per share, compared with its prior estimate of $5.93 to $6.06 per share.

It expects full-year revenue per room to increase between 12.0% and 12.5% compared to 2022.

Net unit growth – which reflects room additions – remained at approximately 5% for the full year.