U.S. hotel operator Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc posted a quarterly loss as bookings were hurt by travel restrictions and people continued to shelter in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although analysts expect hotels to rebound strongly in the second half of this year, they remain reserved about how quickly demand would pick up for business travel, on which major chains including Hilton and rival Marriott rely heavily.
Hilton said the key hotel metric of revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell about 38% to $46.23. That, however, was an improvement from $40.68 in the prior quarter.
Total revenue fell to $874 million from $1.92 billion a year earlier.
Net loss attributable to stockholders was $108 million, or 39 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with a profit of $18 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.
Photo: Hilton Hotel entrance in Tokyo , Japan. EPA/DAVID COLL BLANCO
