‘Worst of the crisis behind us' says Accor CEO, but cost control still critical
"The worst of the crisis is now behind us", said Accor's chairman and chief executive Sébastien Bazin. However, he added that the group's main markets remain "substantially affected" by the coronavirus pandemic and "discipline, adaptability and cost control are critical".
Group revenue in the third quarter of 2020 came in at €329m (£297m), down by 68.7% as reported and by 63.7% like-for-like due to the effects of the health crisis.
Revenue per available room (revpar) fell by 62.8% during the same period, a significant improvement in the wake of a difficult second quarter and reflecting a recovery in business in all regions, especially in Europe during the summer season.
However, the downturn in leisure customers, in addition to the introduction of new restrictions after the end of August, pushed the recovery down in September. In the UK, revpar fell by 79.8%.
Accor opened 57 hotels during the third quarter of the year, or 7,800 rooms, for which the group said figures were "encouraging". By the end of September, the group was operating 5,121 hotels, with a pipeline of 1,192 hotels and 90% of the group's hotels were open.
Bazin said: "Our performances during the third quarter point to a marked recovery of business during the summer season. The worst of the crisis is now behind us, but our main markets are still substantially affected by the measures rolled out to combat the health crisis. Only China reports solid performances and should swiftly recover its activity level pre-crisis.
"Against this still uncertain context, discipline, adaptability and cost control are critical. We keep transforming our organisations to make the group even more efficient, more agile, and focused on the most profitable and promising markets and segments. We are also deploying additional sources of revenue, in our hotels and in our loyalty program.
"These efforts will help us benefit faster from recovery and pursue our ambitious development of the group."
Accor has approximately 300,000 team members worldwide and a brand portfolio including Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Fairmont and Raffles.
