European Hotels End 2019 on Stellar Profit Performance Note
European hoteliers hope December's sublime performance will carry into and throughout 2020. The year ended on a strong note, represented by a fourth consecutive month of year-over-year profit growth on a per available room basis. GOPPAR soared in the month, finishing 9.8% above the same period in 2018 and marking its greatest YOY increase of the year, according to data from HotStats.
December was a month of record growth rates. Occupancy (up 2.3 percentage points), average rate (up 3.2%) and RevPAR (up 7.1%), all marked their greatest increases in 2019. Further fueled by a 1.5% YOY uptick in ancillary revenue, TRevPAR realized another 2019 record with a 5.0% YOY upsurge.
This heightened activity was also reflected on the expense side. Led by a 5.9% YOY expansion of rooms labour costs, total payroll rose by 2.1% on a PAR basis compared to December 2018. Overheads were also part of this upward trend with a 3.1% YOY increase.
The end of year profitability boost was just what Mainland Europe hoteliers needed after a rather difficult first three quarters of the year. Still, GOPPAR for full financial year 2019 was 0.8% below that of 2018.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Mainland Europe (in EUR)
Budapest experienced a profit boost in the last month of the year, too. GOPPAR in the Hungarian capital recorded a staggering 35.6% YOY increase in December, the fourth month of double-digit YOY growth for this metric in the city in 2019.
Occupancy increased by 3.6 percentage points over the same period a year ago, while average rate did so by 12.2%. These strong results led to a lofty 17.6% YOY surge in RevPAR, the greatest one recorded in 2019. A 10.6% increase in ancillary revenue also contributed to a 15.3% YOY climb in TRevPAR.
Expenses were also up in December, highlighted by a labour cost increase of 5.5% YOY. Overheads were also up 3.1% YOY. Nevertheless, the expansion of the top-line drove profitability, and GOPPAR for 2019 in Budapest closed 2.9% above that of 2018.
Profit conversion in Budapest was recorded at 40.4% of total revenue in December.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Budapest (in EUR)
Meanwhile, Nice was not nice to hoteliers in December, as GOPPAR was down a staggering 65.4% YOY. Even though this is the fifth double-digit GOPPAR YOY fall in the city in 2019, it comes after seven consecutive months of profit growth.
Profit slumped despite revenue growth. RevPAR increased 13.0% YOY, driven by a 5.2-percentage-point increase in occupancy. Ancillary revenue, on the other hand, fell by 5.6% YOY, mainly due to decreases in F&B RevPAR (down 1.1% YOY) and Conference and Banqueting revenue (down 18.4% YOY). As a result, TRevPAR managed to climb by 5.5% compared to December 2018.
An upsurge in expenses, however, offset the growth in revenue, resulting in negative GOPPAR for the month. Overheads increased by 23.6% YOY, led by a 47.9% YOY upswing in utilities. Labour costs were also up 11.0% YOY. Despite this, GOPPAR for the 2019 financial year in Nice placed 4.5% above that of 2018.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Nice (in EUR)
About HotStats
HotStats provides monthly P&L benchmarking and market insight for the global hotel industry, collecting monthly detailed financial data from more than 8,500 hotels worldwide and over 100 different brands and independent hotels. HotStats provides more than 550 different KPIs covering all operating revenues, payroll, expenses, cost of sales and departmental and total hotel profitability.
