Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc has said that it expects its room occupancy rates to improve by 5% by early autumn as economies reopen gradually, and predicted that it will take at least two years for demand to rebound to pre-coronavirus levels.
Shares of Hilton rose as much as 1.2% on the above outlook, reversing course from pre-market losses after the company reported an 81% drop in second-quarter revenue per available room (RevPAR).
"I think about the shape of the recovery so far, which has gone from a low of a little over 10% to now running 45% and moving our way up to 50%," CEO Christopher Nassetta told investors on a post-earnings call. "That is a lot of improvement over a relatively short period of time."
Hilton's results come amid rising coronavirus cases in the United States and extended disruptions to travel.
Since April, US occupancy has more than doubled to approximately 48.1% as of July 25, according to data from research firm STR.
Other industry estimates of overall US hotel occupancy say it fell to as low as 20% in April.
Hilton did not give details for hotel occupancy levels, but said that they increased 20 and 15 percentage points in the United States and Asia-Pacific, respectively, between April and June.
Hilton's recovery has been faster in Asia-Pacific, and the company has reopened all of its hotels in mainland China.
Loss Per Share And Revenue
On an adjusted basis, Hilton posted a loss of 61 cents per share, much bigger than the average analyst estimates of 31 cents, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Revenue plunged 77.3% to $564 million, below estimates of $848.7 million.
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