Marriott Reports Strong International Hotel Revenue Growth

Marriott International today reported strong revenue performance for both the fourth quarter of 2007 and the full year, fueled particularly by soaring revenues in its properties overseas. Worldwide revenue per available room was up 9.2 percent in the quarter, including a 6.2 percent increase in North America and a 15.5 percent increase outside of North America.

Earnings for the quarter dropped to $176 million, down 20 percent compared with the $220 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2004. Marriott attributed the drop largely to the closing of its synthetic fuel business. Excluding the impact of discontinued operations, earnings for the company were up 19 percent.

For the full year of 2007, rates increased by 7.5 percent, Marriott opened more than 31,000 rooms and the company's development pipeline reached a record 125,000 rooms, according to Marriott. CFO Arne Sorenson said the credit crunch is unlikely to heavily affect that pipeline, as a large majority of those properties are limited service properties or in Asia and the Middle East, where the credit crunch is not an issue.

Marriott said it expects RevPAR growth to moderate in 2008 to the 3 percent to 5 percent range. "We read the same news sources as you do, so we do look to the future with some caution in mind," Sorenson said today during a conference call to investors. Sorenson also said that global growth should shield the company from some of the domestic economic woes analysts are forecasting.