Hyatt Hotels sees profit drop
ASSOCIATED PRESS May 1, 2013 9:12AM
Updated: May 1, 2013 5:49PM
Hyatt Hotels Corp. said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income fell on rising costs and revenue that came in below Wall Street expectations.
The Chicago-based company said that group demand declined, which it blamed partly on the timing of Easter this year.
Net income was $8 million, or 5 cents per share, compared with $10 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.
The company said that excluding items such as asset write-downs, it would have earned 9 cents per share. Analysts, who usually exclude items, expected adjusted earnings of 8 cents per share.
With higher average daily room rates at owned and leased hotels, revenue rose to $975 million from $958 million, but that still fell short of analysts’ forecast of $1 billion, according to FactSet.
Expenses at owned and leased hotels rose 4 percent.
The company owns, manages and franchises hotels under several names including Hyatt, Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency.
