by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:50 AM ET, Wed February 17, 2021
Despite massive reported losses for the fourth quarter and full year, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. revealed the vast majority of its properties have reopened and many new properties are scheduled for construction.
The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Hilton and the travel industry as a whole is undeniable, as the hotel giant reported a $225 million loss for the fourth quarter compared to a loss of $81 million for the third quarter.
Hilton President and CEO Chris Nassetta also said the company lost $720 million during 2020, compared with a net income of $886 million for the full-year of 2019. The hotel giant reported an adjusted EBITDA of $204 million for the quarter and $842 million for the full year.
"Our fourth quarter results were largely in line with our expectations as rising COVID-19 cases and tightening travel restrictions disrupted the positive momentum we saw throughout the summer and fall," Nassetta said. "Yet even with a challenging environment, we celebrated our one-million-room milestone during the quarter and achieved net unit growth of more than five percent for the year."
Despite the losses associated with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and resulting travel restrictions, Hilton has managed to reopen 97 percent of its hotels. Occupancy for the fourth quarter fell to 41 percent in the U.S., a drop of more than 30 percentage points from 2019.
Looking to the future, the company announced it has 2,570 hotels across 116 countries and territories in the development pipeline, including 31 properties being built in areas where Hilton does not have any hotels in its portfolio.
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