Driven by GOPPAR Gains, MENA Hotels Start Out New Year Strong
While 2019 may have been a year to forget for Middle East and North Africa hotels, the beginning of the new year kicked off on a high note.
Profit in January was up 7.7% YOY on a per-available-room basis, driven by top-line gains, including a 3.4% YOY increase in RevPAR, which was noticeably all occupancy driven. Average room rate in the month was down 4.7%, but a rise in occupancy of 5.6 percentage points to 71.6% pushed RevPAR into positive territory. Net RevPAR was up 3.0% YOY.
Total revenue in the month grew 1.9% YOY as total F&B revenue grew 1.4% YOY on a per-available-room basis, coupled with a healthy 16.1% YOY jump in revenue from conference & banqueting.
The growth in revenue was outdone by overall profit growth, which was secured by operators' deft expense control and flow-through. Expenses in the Rooms department were down 0.8% YOY on a per-available-room basis, which helped lead to a 4.1% YOY increase in rooms profit. Total expenses in the F&B department were down 3.9% YOY, helping lead to total profit growth of 6.8% YOY.
In the undistributed departments, the news was also positive. All the departments were either down to flat YOY on a per-available-room, including A&G expenses (down 2.6%) and Property & Maintenance (down 2.2%), inclusive of a 3.3% YOY decrease in utilities.
Total labor costs were down 3.5% YOY on a per-available-room basis and down 1.4 percentage points as a percentage of total revenue.
The strong expense control led to the YOY profit jump and a 2.3 percentage point increase in profit margin to 42.2%.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Total MENA (in EUR)
Riyadh saw robust growth in both revenue and profit with RevPAR jumping 17.9% YOY and GOPPAR up 22.1% YOY. Similar to the overall MENA numbers, RevPAR in January was led by growth in occupancy (up 12.8 percentage points to 74.8%), as average room rate fell 2.3% YOY.
Total revenue was up 15.3% YOY on a per-available-room basis, with total F&B revenue up double-digits YOY at 10.5%.
Unlike the broader MENA, expenses, especially in the undistributed departments, did increase YOY in January on a per-available-room basis, led by a 7.3% YOY increase in Property & Maintenance costs.
Meanwhile, total labor costs on a per-available-room basis were up 11.0% YOY, but down 1.2 percentage points as a percentage of total revenue.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Riyadh (in EUR)
In Dubai, rooms RevPAR was flat, as an uptick of 3.7 percentage points in occupancy was blunted by a 4.3% YOY drop in rate. As a result, TRevPAR was negative for the month, down 1.7% YOY. Still, strong expense control led to positive GOPPAR growth, which increased 5.1% YOY.
Total hotel labor costs as a percentage of total revenue were down 2.5 percentage points in the month. Total expenses on a per-occupied-room basis were down 9.2% YOY.
Profit margin was up 3.3 percentage points to 51.1%.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Dubai (in EUR)
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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.
