Hilton Profits Nearly Double

Updated from 10:13 a.m. EST

Hilton's(HLT Quote) fourth-quarter earnings came in slightly below Wall Street's forecast, but the hotel operator raised its full-year forecast for revenue per available room, signaling that luxury lodging continues to perform well.

Hilton's net income in the quarter nearly doubled to $207 million, or 50 cents a share, from $105 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier.

The results included several one-time items, including gains on an asset sale and contract termination fees. Excluding items, Hilton reported adjusted earnings of 32 cents a share, a penny below analysts' mean estimate of 33 cents, according to Thomson Financial.

The EPS miss mostly was due to results in Hilton's time-share business. The accounting rules for that business recently changed, making analyst projections on the business a little difficult.

Hilton's core results, however, remained strong. Owned-hotel margins improved 90 basis points.

Revenue per available room, or revpar, rose 10.7% worldwide, driven by strong room rate increases. Revpar is a key hotel performance metric.

For 2007, Hilton now sees revpar growth of 9% to 11%, up from its prior forecast of 7% to 9%.

Shares of Hilton shares recently were up 82 cents, or 2.4%, to $35.22.

The results boosted other hotel stocks as well. Starwood(HOT Quote) rose $1.51, or 2.5%, to $61.94, and Orient-Express (OEH Quote) added 92 cents, or 2% to $47.72. Marriott(MAR Quote) was up 57 cents, or 1.2%, to $47.30.