Decline in second quarter net income for Marriott International
Marriott International, the world's largest hotel company, reported a 65% fall in net income to £232m during the second quarter of 2019.
Earnings per share also fell to $0.69 from $1.87 during the same period last year.
The company, which operates more than 30 brands, including Ritz-Carlton, Edition and Sheraton, achieved global increase in revenue per available room (revpar) of 1.2%. Countries outside North America put in a stronger performance, with revpar up 2.8%, while hotels in North America increased by only 0.7%.
More than 16,000 rooms were added to the Marriott portfolio between April and June, including nearly 3,500 rooms from competitor brands. Meanwhile, the company's development pipeline totalled more than 48,000 rooms across 2,900 hotels.
Arne Sorensen, president and chief executive of Marriott International, said: "Our results in the second quarter highlight the resiliency of our business model and the growing strength of our brands. Year-to-date through 2 August, we have already returned $1.9b to shareholders. For full-year 2019, we expect cash returned to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends could approach $3b."
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