Wyndham Beats as Leisure Travel Returns

Wyndham Worldwide beats profit expectations thanks to strong room revenue. The company also raises its full-year outlook.

Author:: Miriam Reimer
Publish date:: Jul 27, 2011 7:57 AM EDT

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (

TheStreet

) --

Wyndham Worldwide

(WYN)

beat profit expectations thanks to strong room revenue and raised its full-year outlook as leisure travel picked up steam.

Wyndham said early Wednesday it booked a profit of $114 million, or 67 cents a share, in the second quarter, up 20% from year-earlier earnings of $95 million, or 51 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings came to 64 cents a share. Results easily topped analysts' expectations for a profit of $95.9 million, or 56 cents a share.

>> Bankruptcy Watch: 9 Risky Hotel Stocks

RevPAR -- or revenue per available room, a key metric in the hotel industry that multiplies a property's room rate by its occupancy rate -- jumped 9.7%. Wyndham franchises lower-priced hotel chains like Days Inn, Ramada and Super 8, which cater more to leisure travelers.

Marriott International

(MAR) - Get Report

, which caters more to corporate clients and business travelers, grew revPAR by 6.8% on a worldwide basis in its recent quarter, including 7.3% in international markets and 6.6% in North America.

Host Hotels & Resorts

(HST) - Get Report

said revPAR at its hotels increased 6.7% in the quarter. Market watchers will pay close attention to how

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

(HOT)

, due to report its latest quarterly results on Thursday, fares in the all-important line item.

Wydham said net revenue rose 13% to $1.1 billion in the three months ended June 30, also topping expectations.

>> Marriott: Profit Disappoints Despite Growth

The hotelier raised its full-year outlook, and now expects adjusted EPS in the range of $2.32 to $2.40 on revenue of $4.2 billion to $4.3 billion. That compares with its prior guidance for 2011 EPS between $2.15 and $2.25 on revenue of $4 billion to $4.2 billion.

Analysts had expected Wydham to earn $2.24 per share in 2011 on revenue of $4.19 billion.

Wyndham shares were unchanged in premarket trading Wednesday after closing slightly lower at $34.17 in Tuesday's session.

>> Host Hotels Profit More Than Triples

>>For upcoming earnings and estimates, see our

Earnings Calendar

Written by Miriam Marcus Reimer in New York.

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