Global hospitality company Hilton has reported robust performance for Q4 and full year (FY) 2024, with system-wide revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth surpassing anticipated figures.
System-wide comparable RevPAR rose by 3.5% for Q4 and 2.7% for the full year. When assessed on a like-for-like and currency-adjusted basis, this increase was primarily attributed to an upturn in leisure stays, along with ongoing improvements in group bookings and business travel.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also exceeded expectations, reaching $858m for Q4, up 7% and $3.429bn for the full year.
This performance was primarily driven by stronger-than-anticipated RevPAR growth, reduced corporate expenses, and timing-related factors, noted Hilton chief financial officer and global development president Kevin Jacobs in an earnings call.
Net income was $1.539bn for the full year and $505m for the quarter. The company's diluted earnings per share (EPS) reached $2.06 in Q4 and $6.14 for FY 2024.
The approval of 34,200 new rooms for development during the quarter has expanded Hilton's development pipeline to 498,600 rooms as of 31 December 2024, marking an 8% growth from the previous year.
Hilton added 22,600 keys to its system in Q4, contributing to a total of 98,400 room openings for the full year.
This marks the largest room increase in the company's history of more than 100 years, resulting in a net unit growth of 7.3%.
Hilton president and chief executive officer Christopher Nassetta said: "We are pleased to report a strong fourth quarter, with both top and bottom-line results exceeding our expectations. All segments drove RevPAR outperformance, with strong trends in leisure occupancy, as well as continued growth in business transient and group results, and we expect favourable trends to continue into 2025.
“We also delivered the highest number of approvals, construction starts and openings in our history in 2024, helping us achieve net unit growth of 7.3%.
“With a development pipeline of nearly half a million rooms, we are confident that we are well positioned to deliver net unit growth between 6.0% and 7.0% in 2025."
Looking ahead to 2025, Hilton projects a system-wide RevPAR increase between 2.0% and 3.0% on a comparable and currency-neutral basis compared to 2024.
The company's full-year net income is expected to be between $1,829m and $1,858m, with an adjusted EBITDA forecasted to be between $3,700m and $3,740m.
Hilton also anticipates a capital return of approximately $3.3bn for the full year 2025, with net unit growth projected to be between 6.0% and 7.0%.
For Q1 2025, system-wide comparable RevPAR, on a currency-neutral basis, is expected to rise by 2.5% to 3.5% compared to Q1 2024.
