Hyatt"s RevPAR up, profit down in 3Q

　　Hyatt Hotel Corp., Chicago, reported that its profit decreased to US$14 million in the third quarter of 2011 from US$30 million during the same period in 2010.

　　Although the company saw a 9.6% year-on-year increase in RevPAR, it saw a one-time US$12 million loss in marketable securities while the third quarter in 2010 profit was boosted by a US$35 million gain from debt extinguishment.

　　Total revenue was US$897 million, up from US$879 in the third quarter of 2010.

　　“Where they performed well is at their select-service properties,” Patrick Scholes, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, Arlington, Virginia, told Bloomberg. “They are benefiting from a bit of a trade-down effect as people are trying to cut costs, and they don’t have much group business, which is a soft spot in the lodging industry.”

　　Robert W. Baird & Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pointed to rate increases as the driver behind Hyatt’s RevPAR uptick.

　　“Hyatt"s strong third quarter 2011 results were largely the result of strength within its owned and leased operations. RevPAR growth in its owned portfolio was largely rate-driven at 5% ADR, 3% occupancy growth, which is consistent with the rate momentum in the overall lodging industry,” wrote David Loeb, managing director and senior real estate research analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., in an investors report.