Spain's Melia Hotels net profit jumps 40% after strong summer (updated)

Melia Hotels International SA

11/11/2024 09:12

(Recasts to focus on third quarter, adds details, comment from
CEO and outlook)
       MADRID, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Spain's Melia Hotels  MEL.MC 
reported a 40% rise in third-quarter net profit on Monday,
attributing the bigger than expected increase to a strong summer
season as it reaped the benefits of its investments in luxury
rooms in holiday resorts. 
    The country's largest hotel chain said net profit for the
three months totalled 74.9 million euros ($80.06 million) with
revenue rising 2.7% to 584 million euros as the number of
foreign tourists in Spain this summer reached a record high.
    "For the third year in a row we have a positive summer
season, which is anchored in the willingness to travel...and the
increasing demand for premium and luxury products and services,"
Melia's Chief Executive Gabriel Escarrer said in a statement.
    Analysts, on average, had expected net income of 67.15
million euros and sales of 582 million euros.
    Nine-month net profit was 118.6 million euros on sales of
1.54 billion euros, 4.5% higher than the Mallorca-based company,
where premium rooms count for more than half of its total offer,
reported in the year-earlier period. 
    Airlines and the main Spanish airport operator, Aena
 AENA.MC , expect passenger traffic in the country will continue
growing during the winter season and believe numbers can beat
last year's record.
    Melia Hotels' sales were strongest on the Spanish coast and
the Balearic Islands thanks to the increase in tourists,
especially from Britain, but sales at its urban hotels were also
higher.
    Quarterly revenue per room rose 11% from a year earlier and
is expected to keep growing by double digits for the remainder
of 2024.
   Good sales are anticipated for the Canary Islands winter high
season and at hotels in cities such as Madrid and Palma de
Mallorca, while geopolitical tensions in Europe and the Middle
East have had little impact on business, Melia Hotels said. 
    The company is set to open 10 new luxury hotels in China,
Milan, Malta, Albania, Spain and Cuba in the coming months.
    
    ($1 = 0.9351 euros)

 (Reporting by Corina Pons, editing by Inti Landauro, Kirsten
Donovan)
 ((corina.pons@thomsonreuters.com; 0034 690725854; Reuters
Messaging: corina.pons.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))