Accor: Higher hotel sales in a difficult environment
Sales of the Accor hotel group increased by two percent year-on-year in the first half of 2016 to 2.598 billion euros after adjusting for portfolio and exchange rate effects. The core markets in particular contributed to this growth.
The increase was driven by favorable business performance in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe (NCEE), up 4.1 percent), Asia Pacific (ASPAC), up 4.8 percent, and the Mediterranean-Middle East-Africa (MMEA) region, up 3.2 percent, according to an Accor media release.
Spain, Great Britain and Germany are sales drivers
The main drivers in Europe were the German and UK markets, with growth of 4.3 and 4.4 percent respectively. A strong contributor to sales in the MMEA zone was the Iberian Peninsula, with an increase of 11.5 percent. In France, sales decreased by 2.6 percent, but were particularly strong in Paris, where RevPAR slumped by twelve percent.
In the 1st half of 2016, 120 hotels were restructured, of which 81 were leased and 39 owned. These transactions resulted in a reduction in adjusted net debt of €233 million. In addition, the Accor Hotels Group sold 85 hotels in the economy and midscale segments in Europe to Grape Hospitality, a hotel platform 70 percent owned by Eurazeo and 30 percent owned by AccorHotels.
Fairmont Raffles Hotels International incorporated
Against the backdrop of events in the UK (keyword: Brexit), in France and Germany (attacks and assassinations), and in Turkey (political state of emergency), and with first-time consolidation of the results of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) in the second half of the year, the Group expects EBIT for the full year 2016 to be in a relatively broad range between 670 and 720 million euros. This range is to be narrowed - as in 2015 - when the revenue figures for the third quarter are published on October 18, 2016.
The closing of the FRHI acquisition by AccorHotels had taken place on July 12, 2016. AccorHotels is present in Switzerland with 54 hotels with more than 6,000 rooms, newly joined by the three Swiss FRHI properties with a total of 821 rooms, and employs more than 1,000 people. (mr)
