Loss Widens at Four Seasons

Luxury hotel and resort company Four Seasons (FS) posted a wider third-quarter loss Thursday, largely because of foreign-exchange losses.

The Toronto-based company said its loss widened to $11.4 million, or 31 cents a share, from $8.5 million, or 24 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue fell to $52.2 million from $63.3 million. Excluding items, the company earned $8.1 million, or 22 cents a share, in the latest quarter.

The company said revenue per available room, an important industry measuring stick also known as revpar, increased 13.2% worldwide. Revpar at U.S. core hotels grew 16%.

Four Seasons said it expects revpar for its core hotels, or hotels and resorts under management all of both 2004 and 2005, to increase by about 5% in the fourth quarter and by about 11% for this year.

Isadore Sharp, Four Seasons' chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that "the fundamentals of our business are strong, even though this quarter's results do not have the benefit of the foreign-exchange forward contracts and certain residential fees included in the third quarter of 2004."

Shares of Four Seasons Hotels were down recently $4.72, or 8.3%, to $51.95.

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