French hotel group AccorHotels has reported solid growth in its third quarter with a 2.4% rise in revenue to €1,493m (£1,106m), or 3.4% like-for-like.
Business within HotelInvest, the owner and investor part of the company, increased 2% like-for-like (0.1% when adjusted exchange rates and consolidation) to €1,295m (£959m), while HotelServices (operator and brand franchiser) recorded like-for-like revenue up 8.4% to €356m (£264m).
The figures have led Accor to revise its 2015 EBIT target to between €655m (£485m) and €675m (£500m).
The UK saw a strong improvement in business activity in the third quarter, growing 6.3%. HotelInvest and HotelServices recorded like-for-like revenue growth of 5.6% and 10.9% respectively, resulting from stable demand at a very high level. Occupancy was 87.9% for owned, leased and managed hotels over the quarter. Average prices were up 5.3% and revpar was up 5.1%.
Sébastien Bazin, chairman and chief executive officer of AccorHotels, said: “Third-quarter performance was in line with the trends observed since the beginning of the year, with strong business activity in most of the group’s markets, flat demand in France and a rapid deterioration in Brazil reflecting a challenging economic environment.
“AccorHotels continues to deploy its strategy, with the initial success of the digital plan and fast growth for HotelServices, and the transformation of HotelInvest. In light of these elements, the group refines the range of its 2015 EBIT forecast to between €655m (£485m) and €675m (£500m).”
The group’s growth was driven by “favourable” trade in the bulk of the company’s key markets, located mainly in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe (NCEE, revenue up 4.8% like-for-like) and in the Mediterranean, Middle East, Africa region (MMEA, revenue up 10.0% like-for-like).
Trade in France was described as “sluggish” where demand was stable and revenue remained broadly flat, up 1%.
Revenue in the Americas fell by 6.7% like-for-like. This was pushed down by Brazil (-12.7% like-for-like), which AccorHotels said is experiencing a “major crisis” exacerbated by an unfavourable change in exchange rates and demanding comparatives in July relating to the FIFA World Cup in 2014.