Benzinga -
- Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE: HLT) reported first-quarter FY23 sales growth of 33.2% year-on-year to $2.3 billion Wednesday, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.2 billion.
- Franchise and licensing fees revenue rose 23% Y/Y, and the owned and leased hotels revenue jumped 65%.
- The occupancy rate for the quarter was 68.6% in the U.S., 62.1% in Europe and 74.3% in Middle East & Africa. In total, the system-wide occupancy rate was 67.7%.
- On a currency-neutral basis, System-wide comparable RevPAR increased 30% Y/Y and 8% versus the same period in 2019.
- In Q1, Hilton added 9,200 rooms to its system.
- Total expenses for the quarter rose 32.8%. The operating margin was 21.7%, and operating income for the quarter increased 34.9% to $498 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $641 million increased 43.1% Y/Y. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 170 basis points to 67.8%.
- Adjusted EPS of $1.24 beat the analyst consensus of $1.13.
- Outlook: Hilton expects FY23 adjusted EPS of $5.68-$5.88 versus the Street view of $5.70.
- It expects system-wide comparable RevPAR to increase 8%-11% for FY23.
- The company expects an FY23 capital return of $1.8 billion-$2.2 billion.
- HLT sees Q2 Adj. EPS of $1.54-$1.59; system-wide comparable RevPAR growth of 10%-12%.
- HLT Price Action: HLT shares were trading 1.81% higher premarket Wednesday to $148.98.