In its first earnings report as a public company, Hyatt Hotels Corp. said it lost $12 million in the final quarter of 2009 and lost $43 million for the year.
The loss for the year came on a double-digit drop in room revenue similar to what has been experienced across the industry during one of the hotel sector’s worst years ever.
President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said Hyatt is starting to see occupancy pick up, but its full service, upscale hotels continue to face rate pressure around the world.
During the fourth quarter, Hyatt said revenue per available room (RevPAR) declined 6.7% compared with the same period in 2008. Occupancy improved 1.1 percentage points, but was offset by an 8.2% decline in average daily rate.
For the year, RevPAR was down 18.4% globally.
Hyatt’s fourth-quarter loss came on revenue of $889 million, a slight increase from the year before.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, Hyatt lost $142 million in write-downs and other special items. Excluding those special items, the quarters would have been about even.
For all of 2008, the Hyatt reported a $168 million net profit on $3.8 billion in revenue.
Moving forward, Hoplamazian said the company is focused on growth and renovation of existing properties.
The company has a low debt load and more cash than most of its competitors, and is hunting for new ownership, management and franchise opportunities, particularly in key gateway cities around the globe, Hoplamazian said.