Marriott International Inc. swung to a loss for the first quarter, though it pointed to rising demand in the U.S. and Canada, its largest region, as Covid-19 vaccine rollouts accelerated.
The hotel chain on Monday posted a net loss of $11 million, compared with a profit of $31 million in the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were 10 cents a share, ahead of Wall Street estimates.
The company, which has more than 7,600 properties world-wide, saw demand in leisure travel pick up momentum, especially in ski and beach resort destinations, Chief Executive Tony Capuano said. Marriott also saw green shoots in special corporate and group bookings as companies slowly began their return to offices, Mr. Capuano added.
Revenue fell to $2.32 billion from $4.68 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for $2.38 billion.
Comparable systemwide revenue per available room, a closely watched industry metric known as RevPAR, fell 46.3% to $45.68 world-wide from a year earlier. Occupancy fell 15.3 percentage points to 37.7%.
