AccorHotels CFO Jean-Jacques Morin announced during the
company's earnings call for the first half of the year that it has decided not
to pursue a strategic alliance with Air France-KLM. In early June, Accor
chairman and CEO Sebastien Bazin confirmed
media reports that Accor was in early discussions with the airline to make a
strategic investment and develop joint digital projects and a joint loyalty and
services platform.
The company maintains that significant value could be gained
from a hotel-airline partnership. But for now, "required conditions for
the acquisition of a minority stake in Air France-KLM have not been met,"
Morin said, and the talks will go no further.
The failed attempt at such an alliance, however, by no means
marks a slowdown in Accor's investment activity. The first half of the year saw
Accor close its acquisition of France's Gekko
Group and integrate Mantra
Group in Australia and Mantis
Group in South Africa. During the second half of the year, the
company expects to close its buys of Movenpick
in the Middle East, Atton
in Chile and SBE
Entertainment in the U.S.
Story continues below the chart.
During the first half of the year, Accor's new businesses
division recorded 7.1 percent revenue growth year over year on a like-for-like
basis. Revenue for the period totaled 70 million euros. Revenue for the hotel
services division, which is its traditional hotel operations, grew 6.8 percent
on a like-for-like basis to 1.2 billion euros. The company's net profit reached
2.2 billion euros following the
sale of a 57.8 percent stake in AccorInvest for 4.6 billion euros in
May. Accor sold a second, 7 percent stake this month for 250 million euros.
The company opened 301 hotels during the first half of the
year, more than 50 percent of those 45,150 new rooms coming from Mantra and
Mantis. As of June 30, Accor's portfolio stands at 4,530 hotels, or 652,939
rooms, and its pipeline is 959 hotels, or 167,000 rooms.