NH Hotels Sees EBITDA Double in the First Nine Months

NH Hotels said the adverse economic situation it encountered in 2009 has undergone a major turnaround during the first nine months of 2010 leading to a significant improvement towards recovery in the group’s basic activity. NH Hotels’ revenues totaled 980.5 million euros, a 9.4 percent rise, and its EBITDA reflected both the strong recovery in the market and a large increase in productivity. The company generated an EBITDA totaling 102.2 million euros, more than double the figure for the same period in 2009, due mainly to an improvement in the hotel business in all the markets where NH Hotels operates.

Revenues from NH Hotels’ hotel business grew by 10.3 percent, as a result of an increase in occupancy in all the markets over the first nine months of the year. The increase in occupancy levels, of 12.6 percent in comparable hotels, meant that RevPAR (revenues per available room) went up by 9.7 percent. There were increases in prices for the first time after seven consecutive quarters, helping towards the increase in RevPAR. The major growth in hotel activity compares with a smaller rise in expenses of 4.4 percent, as a result of the cost-cutting plan followed by NH Hotels in 2010.

In line with the asset rationalization and divestment plan the company set up last year, NH Hotels has commitments and down payments for a number of asset sales totaling approximately 60 million euros. The hotels being sold are in Europe and are minor non strategic assets for the group. These transactions are expected to be closed during the fourth quarter of the year. In 2010, NH Hotels has sold four assets that have brought in cash for the group totaling 117 million euros. The company also canceled contracts for another 14 hotels in the first in months of 2010 as part of its plan for managing loss-making and/or non-strategic assets.

NH Hotels, which ranks third among European business hotels, currently has 394 hotels with 59,107 rooms in 25 countries in America, Africa and Europe, including a range of hotels in Madrid, Barcelona and London. The company currently has 30 new projects for hotels under construction, which will provide more than 4,000 new rooms.