Spain's Melia Hotels reported a 40% rise in third-quarter net profit on Monday, attributing the bigger than expected increase to a strong summer season as it reaped the benefits of its investments in luxury rooms in holiday resorts.
The country's largest hotel chain said net profit for the three months totalled €74.9 million with revenue rising 2.7% to €584 million as the number of foreign tourists in Spain this summer reached a record high.
"For the third year in a row we have a positive summer season, which is anchored in the willingness to travel...and the increasing demand for premium and luxury products and services," Melia's chief executive Gabriel Escarrer said in a statement.
Analysts, on average, had expected net income of €67.15 million and sales of €582 million.
Nine-month net profit was €118.6 million on sales of €1.54 billion, 4.5% higher than the Mallorca-based company, where premium rooms count for more than half of its total offer, reported in the year-earlier period.
Airlines and the main Spanish airport operator, Aena, expect passenger traffic in the country will continue growing during the winter season and believe numbers can beat last year's record.
Melia Hotels' sales were strongest on the Spanish coast and the Balearic Islands thanks to the increase in tourists, especially from Britain, but sales at its urban hotels were also higher.
Quarterly revenue per room rose 11% from a year earlier and is expected to keep growing by double digits for the remainder of 2024.
Good sales are anticipated for the Canary Islands winter high season and at hotels in cities such as Madrid and Palma de Mallorca, while geopolitical tensions in Europe and the Middle East have had little impact on business, Melia Hotels said.
The company is set to open 10 new luxury hotels in China, Milan, Malta, Albania, Spain and Cuba in the coming months.
