HotelNewsNow.com provides a news roundup of the hotel industry’s public companies on Friday. Following are the updates for: Host Hotels & Resorts; Hyatt Hotels Corporation; InterContinental Hotels Group; and Marriott International.
Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index
The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index finished Thursday at 2270.76. It was at 2287.53 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time Friday.
Host Hotels & Resorts
2012 should be an active year on the transactions side for Bethesda, Maryland-based Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HST), executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Ed Walter, president and CEO of Host, said the real-estate investment trust plans to sell between US$100 million and US$115 million worth of assets during the first half of the year.
“Over the next two or three years, we expect to be an active recycler of capital,” Walter said during the conference call with analysts.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$16.35 per share and is up 10.7% year to date.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) also is planning to be active on both sides of the transactions table, executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
“Our core philosophy and our thinking about cap allocation is really driven by recycling,” said Mark Hoplamazian, the company’s president and CEO.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$42.84 per share and is up 13.8% year to date.
InterContinental Hotels Group
Executives at England-based InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG) during an earnings call Tuesday unveiled further details about the launch of the company’s previously announced brands, which are expected to launch during the first half of 2012.
The first new brand will be an upper-upscale product tailored to the Chinese traveler. The second will be a midscale offering primarily focused in the United States, for which
IHG will invest up to US$150 million during the initial three-year launch phase.IHG’s stock price is up 21.7% year to date, closing Thursday at US$21.90 per share.
Marriott International
Bethesda -based Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) provided a shining outlook for both its own business and the global travel sector as a whole during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday.
“U.S. lodging demand is holding up, and supply remains in check,” Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s president and COO, said during a conference call with analysts.
Global travel is one factor behind Sorenson’s positive assessment of the sector. He said 1 billion people will cross international borders this year.
“Biggest number ever,” Sorenson said. “It’s a massive number, and it continues to grow.”
Marriott’s stock closed Thursday at US$34.82 per share and is up 19.4% year to date.
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner.