Starwood doubles profit; Asia-Pacific soars - 2004-10-21 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Starwood doubles profit; Asia-Pacific soars

Howard Dicus
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the company behind the Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin and "W" lodging chain brands, more than doubled its profit in the summer quarter, the company said Thursday.

Travel has grown and Starwood has profited. Its revpars -- revenues per available room -- rose more than 12 percent from the same time last year, both across the United States and around the world. Asia-Pacific revpars were up 15.2 percent.

"The travel markets, both group and transient, remain strong," said outgoing CEO Barry Sternlicht, who this month has been handing the reins to former Coke executive Steve Heyer. "We remain optimistic. On the strength of our six brands, our global development pipeline is gaining momentum."

Third quarter at a glance:

Revenue: $1.37 billion. Year before: $1.14 billion.
Net income: $107 million. Year before: $48 million.
Per share: 50 cents. Year before: 20 cents.
One-time items inflated per share earnings, but they otherwise would have been 40 cents, still double last year and more than Wall Street expected.

In Waikiki, the Hilton Hawaiian Village is the largest single hotel campus, but the Sheraton brand accounts for slightly more rooms with four properties owned by Kyo-Ya, the Sheraton Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian, Moana Surfrider and Princess Kaiulani.

Vacation ownership revenue, which excludes gains on sales of notes receivable, was up 36 percent to $175 million due to sales at resorts in Maui and three mainland locales.

New development planning continues for the owned Sheraton Kauai, the owned land at the Princeville resort in Kauai, and at properties in California and Mexico.

Marriott International earlier this month also reported 9 percent better revenues -- $2.2 billion -- and 45 percent better profits -- $133 million -- than in summer of last year. Hilton reports next week.

Reach Howard Dicus at hdicus@bizjournals.com