Hotel operator Hilton Worldwide forecast 2025 profit below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, weighed down by weak leisure travel demand in the US.
While wealthy Americans are taking advantage of a strong dollar and traveling abroad, low- to middle-income people are grappling with increasing costs and have cut back on discretionary expenses like vacations.
The McLean, Virginia-based company expects 2025 adjusted profit between $7.71 and $7.82 per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of $8.02 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It expects systemwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) to increase between 2% and 3% from a year earlier, and net unit growth of about 6% to 7%.
Hilton's RevPAR grew 3.5% for the fourth quarter, while occupancy remained fairly steady at 69.9%, up 110 basis points from a year earlier.
RevPAR in the US, the company's biggest market in terms of hotel rooms, came in at $114.18, up 2.9% from a year earlier, but down nearly 10.7% on a sequential basis.
Quarterly RevPAR in Asia-Pacific rose 1.7% as travel demand in China remains muted, but the region is now showing signs of recovery after contracting 3.4% in the third quarter.
Hilton's development pipeline during the quarter grew 8% to 498,600 rooms. Incentive management fees came in at $86 million, up 11.7% from a year earlier.
The company posted a fourth-quarter profit of $1.76 per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.68. It reported a total revenue of $2.78 billion, roughly in-line with expectations of $2.77 billion (€2.67 billion).
