Marriot International said in its Q4 result that its diluted earnings per share (EPS) dropped by over 19% year on year as a result of cost paid for various merger in 2016.
Marriot said it paid a total of USD136 million for the merger costs of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide which has now been concluded in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The hotel group said its full year revenue rose to USD5,4 billion compared to USD3,7 billion disclosed in 2015. The acquisition of Starwood has already shown in its bottomline.
Net income for the period was USD244. It is diluted earning per share therefore fell to USD0.63 per share to USD0.85 posted last year.
“Looking ahead, we’ve never been more optimistic about our long-term prospects. Our expected new rooms growth for 2017 remains healthy, customers love our hotels and loyalty programs, and owners and franchisees prefer our portfolio of brands more than ever. Around the globe, Marriott brands represent nearly one in four hotels under construction, and one in three hotels under construction in North America.
“Our strategy of managing and franchising hotels under solid, long-term agreements is proven. Over the years, we’ve shown that this business model delivers meaningful growth in the number and variety of choices for our guests globally, while generating strong sustainable cash flow.
“In 2017, we anticipate growing our rooms distribution by 6 percent, net, and expect that our worldwide systemwide comparable constant dollar RevPAR for the combined portfolio will increase 1/2 to 2 1/2 percent. While we do not assume asset sales in our earnings guidance, we believe assets will be sold in 2017. Not including asset sales, we expect to return $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion to shareholders in share repurchases and dividends in 2017.”
