RevPAR slumps by 15.9%
Rezidor Hotels today (October 30) announced a post tax loss of €6.1m for Q3 compared with a €10.1m profit for the same period a year ago.
The hotel chain, whose brands include Radisson Blu, Regent, Park Inn and Missoni, said revenue in the quarter to the end of September fell by €27.1m from €192.5m to €165.4m, a drop of 14.1%.
The three months also saw a drop of 15.9% in revPAR (revenue per available room) from €76.4 in 2008 to a current €64.3.
Occupancy also fell from 69.4% to 66.8%.
Rezidor, which has opened 27 new hotels this year, said its pre-tax earnings fell from €20m in 2008 to €3.1m.
For the nine months of 2009, post tax losses amounted to €27.9m compared to a €24.9m profit in 2008 while revPAR has dropped by 18.1% from €77.1 to €63.2.
Kurt Ritter, Rezidoer's ceo, said there were no major changes in trading conditions during the quarter.
He added: "A weak demand from business clients has been partly offset by lower yield leisure travellers.
"Visibility is still limited and our current plans are based on the assumption that the difficult business climate will continue at least for the near future.
"Our focus on capturing revenue and controlling costs is targeted to ensure that Rezidor is well positioned to benefit when market conditions improve."
Regionally, Rezidor said that revPAR declined "somewhat less" in Europe in the three months.
But this was due to increased leisure business in July and August while business travel remained "weak".
Rezidor added the quarter had seen "sportive signs in the US while the UK was "less negative" than the rest of Europe.
It added: "The balance between declining occupancy and a drop in room rates in Europe has changed significantly during the year.
"At the beginning of 2009, the decline in industry revPAR was mainly a result of a drop in occupancy.
"However, in September, market data showed that two thirds of the revPAR drop could be attributed to declining room rates."
www.rezidor.com