Hilton's systemwide revenue per available room grew 1.4 percent year over year in the second quarter on a currency neutral basis. The increase was slightly lower than the first quarter's 1.8 percent. The company also narrowed its guidance for 2019 systemwide RevPAR from a range of 1 percent to 3 percent to a range of 1 percent to 2 percent. "The forecast for GDP, nonresidential fixed investment and corporate profit growth remain positive but incrementally a bit lower than previous estimates," said president and CEO Christopher Nassetta. "Consistent with these trends, we are modestly adjusting our full-year RevPAR guidance."
Europe led regional RevPAR growth with a 5 percent year-over-year increase for the second quarter, while U.S. RevPAR grew 1 percent year over year in the second quarter, compared with 1.8 percent for the first quarter. Nassetta said Hilton expects the second half of 2019 to be similar to the first half, with consistent RevPAR growth in the U.S. and slightly softer RevPAR growth elsewhere.
He also noted that transient RevPAR grew 1.6 percent year over year in the second quarter "on steady business trends and good leisure demand boosted by the Easter holiday shift." But he added, "As expected, that calendar shift also contributed to softer group performance in the quarter." Group business was strong in the first quarter, and Nassetta said the third quarter also is showing strength. That leads the company to expect healthy group business RevPAR toward the middle to high end of the range it projects systemwide for 2019.
Systemwide occupancy rose 0.5 percentage points in the second quarter to 79.4 percent; average daily rate increased 0.7 percent to $148.93. Net income for the second quarter was $261 million, a 20 percent increase over the same period last year. Full-year guidance for net income remains the same as previously reported.
Hilton opened 123 hotels totaling 17,100 rooms in the second quarter; it also added 28,100 rooms to its pipeline, which totaled 373,000 as of June 30. The company is on track to deliver about 6.5 percent net unit growth for 2019.
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