Hotel owner Host Marriott Corp. on Tuesday posted a fourth-quarter profit, as the high-end hotel industry began to climb out of a three-year downturn.
Host, which owns hotels chiefly managed by sister company Marriott International, reported a net profit of $150 million, or 46 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $3 million, or 4 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2002.
Funds from operations, a key measure of operating performance for real estate investment trusts, rose to 53 cents per share from 36 cents per share the year before.
Fourth-quarter revenue fell to $1.09 billion from $1.13 billion a year earlier.
Looking ahead, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company said it expects a loss of 30 cents a share to 35 cents a share for full-year 2004, and a loss of 12 cents a share to 14 cents a share for the first quarter.
The company also forecast funds from operations to be between 10 cents a share and 12 cents a share for the first quarter and 59 cents a share to 64 cents a share for the full year. Analysts, on average, are looking for FFO of 17 cents per share for the first quarter and 78 cents per share for the full year, according to Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc.
Host also said revenue per available room at its hotels, including the Marriotts, Ritz-Carltons and Hyatts, would rise 3 percent to 4 percent for full-year 2004, although profit margins will be little changed.
