Hotel and resort operator Marriott International (MAR +0.33%) reported third-quarter results today after the markets closed, showing that it posted net revenues of $3.16 billion, a robust 15.8% increase from the $2.73 billion in the same period in the previous year, and well ahead of the $3.04 billion Capital IQ consensus estimate.
Net income came in at $160 million, or $0.52 per share, up 12% from $143 million, or $0.44 per share, in the same period in 2012, and $0.08 per share better than the CapIQ estimates of $0.44 per share.
Marriott benefited from an extra eight days in the quarter resulting from a shift in its fiscal year that saw Q3 2013 have 92 days compared to 84 days in the year-ago quarter. RevPar, however, is measured on a calendar quarter basis for comparability and was up 5.5% with average daily rate up 4.4%.
RevPAR, or revenue per available room, is a key performance metric in the hotel industry that's calculated by multiplying a hotel's average daily room rate by its occupancy rate, excluding ancillary revenues generated from food, beverages, parking, and the like.
The hotel and resort operator expects fourth-quarter RevPar to rise between 4.5% and 5.5% in North America, which includes a 1% decline due to the government shutdown. It anticipates total fee revenue to be between $370 million and $380 million generating earnings of $0.47 to $0.50 per share. For the full year, Marriott says full-year revenues will be in a range of $1.525 billion to $1.535 billion with earnings of $1.98 to $2.01 per share.
Shares of Marriott closed down today 0.9%, or $0.41, to $44.20.
