Acquisitions and new hotel openings around the world had helped Accor today report a massive 34.2 per cent increase in group revenues to €987 million for the first quarter of 2019.
The Paris-based giant saw the biggest improvement come in its hotel assets division, with revenues in this segment alone skyrocketing from €157 million last year to €323 million in 2019. New brands acquired in the intervening time period included Australia’s Mantra Group and the Mövenpick brand, which directly contributed to a positive impact of €176 million on the overall result.
Accor Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Sébastien Bazin, said the result reflected the group’s strong transformation back from AccorHotels and the effectiveness of its global strategy despite a “turbulent macroeconomic environment”.
“Europe remained strong, while South America continued its robust recovery.
“We achieved sustained business development over the period, in line with our medium-term objectives, and continued to strengthen our pipeline, with an ever-increasing share of luxury hotels, which generate higher fees per room.
“Performing well and growing steadily stronger, the Group can tackle the rest of the year with confidence,” Bazin added.
While revenues and profits held strong and indicated stability and further growth over the remainder of 2019, group RevPAR was more modest in its outcomes. Group-wide, Accor posted a 1.6 per cent jump on its revenue per available room. By region, Europe performed strongly despite ongoing nerves over Brexit impacting corporate demand. French revenues were strong, with little to no impact witnessed from yellow-vest protests across the country.
Asia-Pacific struggled slightly, posting a 0.6 per cent decline, which was squarely blamed on oversupply in major Australian cities, combined with general elections affecting prices and occupancy rates. The company said it anticipates an overall group-wide RevPAR growth for the 2019 financial year to close at around three per cent once all figures are tallied and reported.
In the first quarter of 2019, Accor opened 71 hotels globally, which amounted to 8,300 new rooms coming online. The group’s outstanding future pipeline as disclosed is currently at 1,135 hotels and more than 200,000 rooms.