The worldwide hotel group, Hilton has released its latest figures this week for the second quarter of the year, which reflect the global downturn because of the continued impact of the coronavirus, yet the Adjusted EBITDA was still an impressive $400 million.
During the quarter the hotel group managed to approved 25,900 new rooms for development during the second quarter, bringing Hilton's development pipeline to 401,000 rooms as of June 30, 2021. It also added 19,800 rooms to Hilton's system in the second quarter, contributing to 17,800 net additional rooms during the period.
Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer of Hilton, said, "We are excited about our strong second-quarter performance, which reflects our ongoing recovery from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The broader distribution of vaccinations and the easing of travel and other restrictions have allowed for renewed interest in travel and tourism, with families embarking on long-delayed trips, and businesses scheduling in-person meetings again. While the pace of recovery
varies by region, particularly with the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus variants, we expect continued strength in leisure demand and further upticks in business travel to drive continued resurgence in the back half of the year. We are also increasingly
optimistic on our development, with net unit growth for the full year expected to be between 5.0 percent and 5.5 percent."
The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Asia Pacific region beginning in January 2020, before spanning to
the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions in mid-March 2020. Therefore, the results for the six months ended
June 30, 2021 and 2020 for these regions are less comparable than the Asia Pacific region and reflect less improvement, if any,
in RevPAR between the two periods, as those regions were not affected for the entirety of the six months ended June 30, 2020.
The operations of approximately 300 hotels, primarily located in the U.S. and Europe, were suspended for some period of time
during the six months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to approximately 1,205 hotels during the six months ended June 30,
2020. As of June 30, 2021, all but approximately 100 of Hilton's system-wide hotels were open.
For the three months ended June 30, 2021, system-wide comparable RevPAR increased 233.8 percent, compared to the same period in 2020, due to increases in both occupancy and ADR, and fee revenues increased 220 percent. For the six months ended June 30, 2021, system-wide comparable RevPAR increased 23.2 percent, compared to the same period in 2020, due to
an increase in occupancy, partially offset by a decrease in ADR, and fee revenues increased 28 percent. These increases reflect the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related upward trend in travel and tourism during 2021, particularly during the three months ended June 30, 2021.
For the three months ended June 30, 2021, diluted EPS was $0.46 and diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, was $0.56
compared to $(1.55) and $(0.61), respectively, for the three months ended June 30, 2020. Net income (loss) and Adjusted
EBITDA were $128 million and $400 million, respectively, for the three months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $(432) million
and $51 million, respectively, for the three months ended June 30, 2020.
For the six months ended June 30, 2021, diluted EPS was $0.08 and diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, was $0.58
compared to $(1.49) and $0.13, respectively, for the six months ended June 30, 2020. Net income (loss) and Adjusted EBITDA
were $19 million and $598 million, respectively, for the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to $(414) million and $414
million, respectively, for the six months ended June 30, 2020.
Development
In the second quarter of 2021, Hilton opened 119 new hotels totalling over 19,800 rooms and achieved net unit growth of 17,800
rooms. In June 2021, the Resorts World Las Vegas opened, Hilton's largest multi-brand property, which includes three premium brands, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and LXR Hotels & Resorts. Also during the quarter, Hilton celebrated
Tru by Hilton's 5-year anniversary with the opening of the brand's 200th hotel. Hilton had a record amount of conversion signings
during the quarter and, in July 2021, opened its first hotel under the Signia by Hilton brand, the Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet
Creek, re-branded from a Hilton Hotels & Resorts property.
As of June 30, 2021, Hilton's development pipeline totalled nearly 2,590 hotels representing 401,000 rooms throughout 115
countries and territories, including 30 countries and territories where Hilton does not currently have any existing hotels.
Additionally, of the rooms in the development pipeline, 247,000 rooms were located outside the U.S., and 203,000 rooms were
under construction.
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