Q2 REVIEW
Hilton ' s CEO doesn ' t fashion himself a Pollyanna , so why is he always optimistic ?
THE COMPANY REPORTED RECORD EBITDA FOR THE QUARTER .
By DAVID EISEN
Hilton was the first of the major publicly traded lodging companies to report second-quarter earnings and its strong numbers and sanguine executive speak proved to augur favorably for the broader hospitality industry .
Revenue per available at Hilton kicked up 12.1 % globally versus the same period a year ago , driven , in part , by the further reopening of China and higher sustained rates across all segments of the industry .
Full-year 2023 system-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 10 % and 12 % compared to 2022 .
Net income was $ 413 million for the quarter , which exceeded the high end of guidance , while adjusted EBITDA was a record $ 811 million .
As Chris Nassetta , president and CEO of Hilton put it , “ We exceeded expectations ,” a post-pandemic hurrah in this business amid continued vacillation in capital markets and downward economic pressures . Consider Hilton ' s hotel occupancy in June : At 77 %, it was the highest month it ’ s been postpandemic .
In what Nassetta had previously remarked as operating in a “ bizarro world ,” a term he alluded to again on the Q2 earnings call , things and trends , he said , were starting to normalize , with performance levels across all business segments showing positive gains . Business transient RevPAR was up 11 % in the quarter , group RevPAR up 19 % and 9 % versus the same time in 2019 . Stable demand mixed with rising rates drove leisure RevPAR growth of 26 % versus 2019 .
“ We are pushing hard on price to make hotel owners the most money ,” Nassetta said . “ We drive it because flow through on
14 hotelsmag . com September 2023