Hyatt's net income soared to $769 million in 2018, despite a 79.2 percent year-over-year decline in fourth-quarter net income to $44 million and a mere 1.5 percent year-over-year rise in revenue per available room in the final stretch of 2018.
Full-year systemwide RevPAR growth hit 3.1 percent, slightly lower than the expectations of 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent Hyatt laid out in its third-quarter earnings. Group RevPAR for U.S. full-service hotels rose 2.7 percent, while average daily rate for transient business travel hit 3.2 percent. On the downside, Hyatt booked 2 percent fewer transient room nights in 2018 compared to the prior year.
Hyatt's December acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality boosted the company's full-year results. Net rooms grew 13.6 percent in 2018, 6.4 percent of that from Two Roads.
President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian is excited about Hyatt's footprint around the world and said the Two Roads acquisition "added many great hotels and outstanding brands that we believe will enhance the performance of our existing network of hotels."
Hyatt expects 2019 to bring a 1 percent to 3 percent increase in RevPAR over 2018. Net rooms are pegged to increase 7 percent to 7.5 percent, while net income is expected to rise between $109 million and $147 million. The hotel chain has 445 hotels in its pipeline, up from 330 at the end of 2017.
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Updated Feb. 15, 2018 at 10:15 a.m.: This story has been corrected to reflect that Hyatt's net income, not revenue, declined year over year for the fourth quarter.