Hilton Worldwide approves development of 26,000 new rooms

28 April 2016 by Katey Pigden

Hilton Worldwide approved 26,000 new rooms for development in the first quarter of 2016, a 14% increase from the same period in 2015.

Net unit growth for Q1 was 6,500 rooms, which equates to a 16% increase from last year.

The firm now has a development pipeline of 1,729 hotels, consisting of 281,000 rooms.

System-wide comparable revenue per available room (revpar) increased 2.1% on a currency neutral basis compared to Q1 2015, while adjusted EBITDA for the period rose 9% to $653m (£447m).

Christopher Nassetta, president & CEO of Hilton Worldwide, said: "We are pleased with our start to the year with adjusted EBITDA exceeding the high end of guidance. We continue to organically expand the global presence of our 13 distinct, market-leading brands, with over 9,200 new rooms opening in the quarter, including openings in two new countries, resulting in net unit growth that was 16% higher than the first quarter of last year."

He added: "Construction started on the first Tru by Hilton in the quarter and we now have 48 in the pipeline and 170 more committed or in progress, representing the fastest growth of a new brand in company history."

In February of this year, Hilton Worldwide announced it plans to spin off the bulk of its real estate business, along with its timeshare business Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) to create two new companies.

The group, which numbers more than 4,600 hotels globally, said it will spin off around 70 properties (35,000 rooms) to form a real estate investment trust (REIT) and HGV will also become a separate publicly traded entity.

Registration statements for the proposals are expected to be filed during the second quarter.

The firm has now appointed Thomas Baltimore as president and CEO and Sean Dell'Orto as chief financial officer of the REIT trust.
Baltimore will report to Nassetta and Dell'Orto will continue to serve as senior vice president and treasurer for Hilton Worldwide.

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