40.7% drop on 2008 figure
Spanish hotel chain Sol Melia posted a €47.5m net profit for first nine months of 2009.
The figure was a 40.7% drop on the profit for 2008 but the chain said it was a "positive" result in the economic conditions.
The company said its revenue between January and September were €899.9m, a 9.3% fall from the same period in 2008.
Pre-tax earnings fell by 16% from €220.8m to €185.5m.
But the chain said there were signs that the market conditions were "slightly more favourable" than three months ago.
It said the drop in 16.1% drop in revenue for the third quarter was "strong reduction" on the 18.9% drop in the second quarter.
Sol Melia, whose brands include Gran Meliá, Meliá, ME, Innside, Tryp, Sol and Paradisus, said the fall in occupancy also eased from 12.1% in Q2 to 6.1% in Q3.
But the hotel company said: "Given the current uncertainty, in which even medium term planning is difficult, Sol Meliá has been operating a crisis contingency plan for the last 14 months, focusing on revenue generation, cost optimisation, risk management and the balance sheet and cash flow."
The company said it has raised €41.1m from new revenue generating projects and had made savings of €59.8m to September.
It added in its statement: "The current market difficulties have not changed the company's strategic vision, which continues to focus on the long term and on strengthening brand equity, improving customer loyalty and personalisation, innovation and improvements in competitiveness."
www.solmelia.com