French hotels group Accor SA said second-quarter revenue jumped nearly 8 percent, boosted by a rebound at its budget hotels…
French hotels group Accor SA said second-quarter revenue jumped nearly 8 percent, boosted by a rebound at its budget hotels. Revenue in the April-June period totaled 1.97 billion euros ($2.36 billion), up from 1.83 billion euros a year earlier. The 2004 figures were restated under the recently introduced International Financial Reporting Standards.
First-half revenue, from January to June, rose 6.8 percent to 3.64 billion euros ($4.36 billion) from 3.41 billion euros close to analysts` expectations. Accor shares closed 0.3 percent lower at 41.38 euros ($49.61) Wednesday, before the results were announced. Like many French companies, Accor publishes its revenue and profit separately.
The company said its budget hotels, led by its Ibis chain, posted a 4.3 percent increase in revenue in the first half on a comparable basis stripping out currency effects, selloffs and acquisitions. Upscale hotels, including the Sofitel chain, recorded a 2.5 percent revenue increase on the same basis.
The beginning of the year has shown a good overall trend, which has been satisfying in three (quarters) of our portfolio, said Chief Financial Officer Benjamin Cohen. For the upscale and midscale hotels, the trend is less strong, but the second quarter has been encouraging, especially in France.
Looking forward to the rest of the year, Cohen said that last weekend`s terrorist attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik would have a tangible effect on business and had already led to cancelations at its Egyptian hotels.
But the repercussions would not be significant enough to upset results, Cohen said. Prior to Wednesday`s close, the company`s shares were trading less than 1 percent below their price on Friday, before the attacks.
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