Revenue
from group hotel bookings in the United States bolstered second-quarter
earnings for Hyatt Hotels Corp.
On
Tuesday, the company reported that U.S. group room revenue grew 10 percent year-over-year.
Three-quarters of that growth came from a 7.2 percent year-over-year rate increase.
Hyatt posted similar results in group revenue during the first quarter
and expects room revenue growth in the segment to fall into the 7 percent range
for the remainder of 2015. U.S. group business represents approximately 45
percent of total room revenue for the company.
CEO
Mark Hoplamazian said strong group performance has given Hyatt improved pricing
power in the transient segment. U.S. transient full-service room revenue grew 6
percent year-over-year, driven primarily by rate, up 5.9 percent year over year.
Revenue
at full-service hotels in other global regions was less favorable. The average
daily rate dropped 6.9 percent in the Southeast Asia, China, Australia, South
Korea and Japan region and 13.2 percent in the Europe, Africa, Middle East and
Southwest Asia region.
Systemwide,
occupancy increased 0.9 percentage points year over year and ADR increased 1
percent from $182.21 to $184.11.
Hyatt
saw strong performances in San Francisco, San Diego, Hawaii and Atlanta, as
well as in large group hotel markets, including Chicago, Orlando and Washington,
D.C. New supply negatively affected results in Paris, New York City and Aruba,
while civil unrest in Baltimore and a Middle
East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in Seoul weighed on those markets.
Hyatt
added 19 hotels across six of its brands, including two under the new Hyatt
Centric lifestyle brand in Chicago and Miami.
Net income dropped from $75
million to $40 million year over year.