Meliá Hotels Sees Revenues Grow 6.8 Percent in First Half

Meliá Hotels Sees Revenues Grow 6.8 Percent in First Half

Meliá Hotels International reported results for the first half of 2011 showing revenues of 620.4 million euros, up 6.8 percent compared to 581 million euros reported in the same period in 2010. The company also reported a 9.1 percent increase in RevPAR (revenue per available room) and a net profit of 8 million euros, down 13.5 percent from 2010 mainly due to the effects of exchange rates and differences in the generation of capital gains. Excluding the effects of exchange rates, Meliá’s net profit would rise another 16 million euros.

EBITDA grew by 8 percent to reach 104.8 million euros, compared with 97 million of the same period in 2010. The company pointed to a positive performance of the hotel business, which is mainly attributed to the positive trends in the industry, excellent management of revenues and its international diversification policy, which has been instrumental in lowering the exposure to country risk and thus ensuring the revenue stream. By market, the company reported a positive performance in European cities (especially in Germany and France), its Spanish resorts and Latin America and the Caribbean.

For the full year, Meliá said it expects continuity in the growth trend in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially for luxury brands, and in the vacation market and the meetings and events segment. The company also emphasized the importance in the short term of new properties in Playa del Carmen and London, hotels which are expected to become destinations in themselves and which will benefit from the resurgence of tourism in the Cancun region and tourism forecasts for the British capital, heightened by the 2012 Olympics.

Meliá signed one hotel every three weeks during the first half of 2011 for a total of 11 hotels signed to date (with 2,346 new rooms). The company has 32 hotels in the pipeline to be added to its portfolio, 84 percent of which are outside Spain, with a total of 8,203 rooms, approximately 10 percent of the current portfolio.