Hyatt Hotels Fourth-Quarter Earnings Decline 69% on Costs

Hyatt Hotels Corp., the chain controlled by the Pritzker family, said fourth-quarter profit fell 69 percent as margins decreased at some of its properties.

Net income declined to $16 million, or 9 cents a share, from $52 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier, the Chicago-based company said today in a statement. The average estimate of nine analysts in a Bloomberg survey was 12 cents a share.

Hyatt’s expenses at owned and leased hotels climbed 5 percent in the quarter, party because of insurance costs. The company also said it was hurt by weakness in some international markets and slower growth in non-room revenue at U.S. hotels.

“They had a choppy quarter,” Nikhil Bhalla, an analyst at FBR & Co. in Arlington, Virginia, said in an interview before the report. “Additionally, on the international front, I think Hyatt continued to face currency-related headwinds and oversupply issues in select Asian markets, similar to what Starwood recently talked about.”

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., owner of the luxury St. Regis and W brands, last week said fourth-quarter profit fell as revenue growth slowed in Europe and costs rose.

Hyatt’s revenue per available room, an industry measure of occupancies and rates, increased 5.8 percent for full-service hotels in North America compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Total revpar climbed 7.5 percent. Revenue rose to $1 billion from $990 million a year earlier.

The results included an $11 million tax benefit, down from $28 million a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings, which exclude certain one-time costs, were 20 cents a share.

Marriott International Inc., the largest publicly traded U.S. hotel chain, is scheduled to report its quarterly results on Feb. 19.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nadja Brandt in Los Angeles at nbrandt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net