Standout GOPPAR Growth Contributes to Positive H1 Performance at U.S. Hotels

An +8.5-percent year-on-year increase in profit per room in June contributed to the +4.2-percent increase for H1 2018 at hotels in the USA, which was due to an increase in revenue as well as a reduction in costs, according to the latest worldwide poll of full-service hotels from HotStats.

Profit per room at hotels in the USA soared to $111.18 this month, from $102.46 during the same period in 2017. This was the fifth consecutive month of profit growth at hotels in the USA and the year-on-year increase in GOPPAR was second only to in April when profit increased by 9.1-percent.

The 4.2-percent increase in TrevPAR this month was driven by growth across all revenue centers, including Rooms (+4.1-percent), Food & Beverage (+2.7-percent) and Conference & Banqueting (+2.3-percent) on a per available room basis.

Rooms revenue this month was fuelled by a 0.7-percentage point increase in room occupancy, to a punchy 83.3-percent, as well as a 3.2-percent increase in achieved average room rate, which hit $210.45.

Whilst the growth in rate this month was driven by the commercial segment, and included an increase in rate in the Residential Conference (+3.9-percent) and Corporate (+0.1-percent) sectors, year-on-year growth was also recorded in the Leisure segment, at +2.2-percent, which increased to $202.73.

Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators – USA (in USD)

In addition to the growth in top line performance, hotels in the USA successfully recorded a drop in Labor costs for only the second time in 2018, which fell by -0.7-percentage points to 33.0-percent of total revenue.

Furthermore, hotels in the USA recorded a 0.8-percentage point drop in Overheads, to 21.7-percent of total revenue, which helped to drive the increase in profit per room.

Due in part to the strong year-on-year increase this month, profit conversion at hotels in the USA was recorded at 40.5-percent of total revenue, which is well above the average in the rolling 12 months to June 2018, at 37.7-percent of total revenue.

Furthermore, flow through at hotels in the USA in June was recorded at a very robust 78.5-percent, which reflects the strong growth in revenue and cost savings.

“The Federal Reserve raised its outlook for economic growth in the USA in 2018 in June, to +2.8-percent, from +2.7-percent, as economic activity has been rising at a “solid” rate this year.

This has been reflected in the performance of hotels in the USA, which have had an excellent period of trading in H1 2018, with the market seemingly going from strength to strength. Hotel owners and operators will be keen to see such growth continue for the remainder of the year and beyond,”

Pablo Alonso, CEO of HotStats.

One of the top performing markets in the USA in June was Houston, where profit per room soared by 49.8-percent year-on-year, to $60.62.

This is the strongest month of year-on-year growth so far in 2018 and represents a significant recovery from the challenging period of trading almost 12 months ago when the city suffered the effects of severe flooding.

In addition to a series of small conferences, June was notable for the elevated demand levels associated with the ten days of celebration to mark the 40^th anniversary of Pride Houston, which helped drive a +10.0-percentage point increase in room occupancy at hotels in the city, to 74.5-percent, as well as a +5.5-percent increase in achieved average room rate, to $144.53.

In addition to the +21.8-percent year-on-year growth in Rooms Revenue, the uplift in demand helped drive an increase in Non-Rooms Revenues at hotels in Houston in June, including Food & Beverage (+17.0-percent) and Conference & Banqueting (+23.7-percent), which helped deliver a 20.3-percent increase in TrevPAR, to $155.27.

Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators – Houston (in USD)

In addition to the strong revenue performance this month, hotels in Houston were able to cut costs to help boost profit levels, which included a -4.9-percentage point saving in Labor costs, to 30.8-percent of total revenue.

As a result of the movement in revenue and costs, profit conversion at hotels in Houston was recorded at 39.0-percent of total revenue. Furthermore, GOPPAR levels have recovered somewhat from the crash in August 2017, to $68.94 on a rolling 12-month basis,

“Pride is a key event in the Houston calendar, with an attendance of over 700,000 every year. With the event celebrating its 40^th anniversary, the attendance this year was even stronger, which is reflected in the very punchy performance of hotels in the city.

However, the oil and gas industry, upon which the city is so reliant, continues to face challenges and the city will face further tests with the addition of more than +1,000 rooms to hotel stock in 2018,” added Pablo.

Pablo Alonso, CEO of HotStats.

Elsewhere in Texas, hotels in Dallas were also able to record a +2.4-percent increase in RevPAR, to $110.21, as a result of increases in both volume and price.

However, tumbling Non-Rooms Revenues, which included a -12.8-percent decline in Food & Beverage revenue cancelled out the increase in RevPAR and led to a -1.3-percent drop in TrevPAR, to $162.17.

Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators – Dallas (in USD)

Whilst hotels in Dallas were able to record a 0.3-percentage point saving in Labor costs, to 32.0-percent of total revenue, it was not sufficient to offset the drop in revenue. And as a result, profit per room at hotels in Dallas fell by -4.3-percent to $58.03.

This was the lowest GOPPAR level recorded at hotels in Dallas so far in 2018 and equivalent to a profit conversion of 35.8-percent of total revenue.

Glossary:

Occupancy (%) - Is that proportion of the bedrooms available during the period which are occupied during the period.

Average Room Rate (ARR) - Is the total bedroom revenue for the period divided by the total bedrooms occupied during the period.

Room Revpar (RevPAR) - Is the total bedroom revenue for the period divided by the total available rooms during the period.

Total Revpar (TRevPAR) - Is the combined total of all revenues divided by the total available rooms during the period.

Payroll % - Is the payroll for all hotels in the sample as a percentage of total revenue.

GOP PAR - Is the Total Gross Operating Profit for the period divided by the total available rooms during the period.