A rising tide lifts all boats, and Wyndham (NYSE:WYN) has further capitalized on strong industry tailwinds in the lodging and travel sector by running a tight ship. As a result, Wyndham's first-quarter results beat analyst estimates, and the company raised its full-year guidance.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 3% from last last year -- 6.8%, excluding the Wyndham brand. The Wyndham brand increased RevPAR 5.2%, excluding divested properties, more than the 4.8% showing of the overall upscale luxury sector.
Wyndham also has a healthy pipeline of 95,000 rooms, up 21% versus last year. Management calculated that in the past quarter, it signed a contract for a new property every 15 hours. As a franchiser, if Wyndham can continue collecting fees and staying disciplined operationally, a lot of incremental sales should drop to its bottom line.
Wyndham is also making a big push in robust international markets. The company currently has 14,900 rooms in China, and it plans to add another 19,500 by the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In the vacation ownership interest (timeshare) segment, Wyndham again benefited from an industry on the rise. Industry sales increased 22% to $10.5 billion. In the first quarter, Wyndham grew gross VOI sales 20%, tours were up 15%, and volume per guest -- which measures sales conversion -- was up 9%. Management noted that it's the biggest player in the vacation ownership industry, with more sales and resorts than Marriott (NYSE:MAR), Starwood (NYSE:HOT), and Disney (NYSE:DIS) combined. This is a big advantage in branding, and more importantly, in being able to offer more locations to timeshare customers. As a result of very favorable trends, Wyndham increased guidance for 2007 to $1.98 to $2.17 in adjusted EPS, up from $1.84 to $2.02.
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Fool contributor Emil Lee is an analyst and a disciple of value investing. He doesn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned above. Emil appreciates your comments, concerns, and complaints. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
