Starwood Hotels & Resorts said fourth-quarter profit, excluding one-time items, rose 42% on higher demand for luxury and upper-upscale hotels throughout the Americas.
Profit, excluding one-time items, increased to $140 million from $99 million a year earlier, while revenue rose 14%, to $1.53 billion.
Actual fourth-quarter earnings dropped 51% from a year earlier to $167 million, primarily due to a charge from an unfavorable legal decision and a gain from another legal decision the year before.
The W, St. Regis and Westin brands performed well in the fourth quarter. W's revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 8.2% in constant dollars, while Westin’s increased 7.9%.
The St. Regis Bal Harbour, a luxury condo-hotel that opened in South Florida during the fourth quarter, contributed $33 million in EBIDTA for the fourth quarter, Starwood said.
Starwood’s North America RevPAR rose 7.6%, while Latin America RevPAR jumped 9.6%. Those regions more than offset sluggish performance in Europe and Africa-Middle East, where RevPAR was little-changed from a year earlier. Overall, Starwood’s RevPAR was up 5.8%.
For the year, Starwood’s net profit rose 2.5%, to $489 million. Revenue increased 11%, to $5.62 billion.
Starwood said in its outlook for 2012 that high unemployment and government debt made the macroeconomic environment “uncertain.”
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