Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ first-quarter profit jumped 66% from a year earlier on a combination of higher demand for luxury hotels in North America and a one-time tax benefit.
Shares rose about 3% on Tuesday afternoon, with the company beating analysts’ revenue estimates.
Starwood said worldwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 5% from a year earlier, at constant currency. North America RevPAR rose 6.2%, while RevPAR in Africa and the Middle East climbed 7.9%, offsetting a slight decline in Europe RevPAR.
RevPAR at St. Regis and Luxury Collection hotels rose 11%, while W Hotels’ RevPAR increased 7.9%.
Net income increased to $213 million from $128 million. Starwood had a $70 million tax benefit stemming from tax reserves it set aside for property sales.
Revenue fell 10% to $1.54 billion because the company sold about 11 hotels during the past year. Analysts in a Thomson Reuters survey forecast sales of $1.47 billion.
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