Good news for Marriott International, as the company reported that net income for first quarter 2014 is up 26 percent year-over-year to $172 million.

And that's three less days, as Marriott shifted their quarterly structure -- 2013 included Dec. 29, 2012 through March 31, 2013, whereas 2014 included Jan. 1 through March 31. 

North American revenue per available room (RevPAR) went up 6.3 percent year-over-year while occupancy went up 2 percent to 69.6 percent and the average daily rate rose 3.3 percent to $141.44. Worldwide RevPAR rose 6.2 percent.

“We are delighted to report solid results in the first quarter of 2014.  We continue to enjoy strong preference for our brands, sustained economic growth and favorable industry supply trends in many markets around the world," Arne M. Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said.

“North American group and transient demand exceeded our expectations during the quarter, driving RevPAR and house profit margins higher.  We were particularly pleased to see higher food and beverage spending by both groups and transient guests."

Earnings were also boosted by the fact that Easter happened after March 31 this year as opposed to happening during the first quarter last year.

Marriott added 32 new properties (5,855 rooms) to its worldwide lodging portfolio in the 2014 first quarter, including The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto, the JW Marriott Dongdaenum Square Seoul and the Pier One Sydney Harbour, an Autograph Collection hotel.  Fourteen properties (2,154 rooms) exited the system during the quarter.  At quarter-end, the company’s lodging group encompassed 3,934 properties and timeshare resorts for a total of nearly 680,000 rooms.

Marrriott total revenues rose 4.8 percent from $3.1 billion in 2013 to $3.3 billion in first quarter 2014.

Company officials are expecting continued growth in 2014.

“While hotel industry supply in North America is growing only modestly, particularly in the full-service segment, we are taking a greater share of new hotels being developed around the world, reflecting owners’ and franchisees’ confidence in our brands and operational strength.  At quarter-end, we had over 200,000 rooms in our development pipeline, a 35 percent increase from a year ago," Sorenson said.

“Looking ahead, we expect demand to remain strong, with North American comparable company-operated RevPAR increasing 4.5  to 6.5 percent in 2014 and property-level house profit margins improving 100 to 150 basis points.  We expect 5 percent net rooms growth worldwide and another year of record signings from our development team."

SOURCE: Marriott press release