Hilton Worldwide released its first quarter results for 2016 Wednesday, revealing an impressive profit of $309 million during the three-month period ending March 31.
The figure represents a massive jump from the same period in 2015, when Hilton reported net income of just $150 million.
The company's unadjusted earnings per share for the first quarter came in at $0.31, while adjusted EPS was $0.17, a 42 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.
What's more, Hilton reported revenue of $2.75 billion for the period ended March 31, a more than 5 percent jump from $2.6 billion during the first quarter of 2015.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, Hilton's first quarter performance exceeded expectations on Wall Street, with most experts anticipating adjusted EPS of $0.16 and revenue of $2.74 billion.
READ MORE: Hilton Earns Multiple Brand of the Year Honors
Hilton also reported a notable rise in net units during the first quarter, reporting 6,500 rooms, signalling a 16 percent increase from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, approved new rooms for development reached 26,000 in the first quarter, a 14 percent increase from the same period in 2015. As a result Hilton's development pipeline has expanded to 1,729 hotels comprising 281,000 rooms.
Hilton also used Wednesday's first quarter earnings release to announce a pair of appointments for its planned real estate investment trust.
The McLean, Virginia-based company announced that Thomas Baltimore will serve in the role of CEO, while Sean Dell'Orto will take over as chief financial officer. The appointments come two months after Hilton revealed plans to spin off its timeshare and real estate businesses into a REIT.
In February, Hilton confirmed plans to spin off about 70 properties into an REIT and spin off its timeshare business, Hilton Grand Vacations into its own publicly-traded company in hopes of improving shareholder value.
The spinoffs are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
READ MORE: Hilton Enlists Travel Agents To Help Educate Consumers on Direct-Booking Benefits
Looking ahead, the company's first quarter financial results have to be encouraging, considering Marriott International is set to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide later this year in a move that is poised to form the world's largest hotel company.
Hilton will look to build off of its impressive first quarter as well as recent achievements in customer satisfaction for both its properties and loyalty program.
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