In its 2011 Q1 Interim Report, Rezidor Hotel Group announced ‘a continued strong recovery in our key markets', despite the fact that the January to March period is traditionally known within the hotel industry for its slow demand. Further to this, the turbulent political climate in the Middle East and North Africa has impacted negatively on hotel revenues in these regions.

The Group comprises of the following well-known hotel brands that operate in numerous, diverse geographic locations: Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, Regent, Hotel Missoni and Country Inn. Reizidor's future strategy is to further strengthen its presence and brand penetration in existing key markets - the Nordics, the UK and Ireland, France, Germany and Belgium - while also establishing a presence in high growth regions such Russia, the CIS and Southern Europe.

Rezidor reported that RevPAR (revenue per available room) on a like for like basis had increased to €55.6, compared with 2010 figures of €52.2 - an increase of 6.5%. This has resulted in a revenue increase of €27 million (around 16.3%), to €192.7 million, compare with €165.7 million the previous year.

Operating activities resulted in a cash flow of €-21.7million, compared with the previous year's €-17.5 million, leaving available monies of €100.5 million (inclusive of unused available credit), significantly higher than the €73 million reported in the same period during 2010.

After tax, losses were €-17.4million, down slightly compared with €-17.7 the previous year. Occupancy figures on a like-for like basis were also up, at 55.7% compared with 53.8% in the previous year. Earnings Per Share (both basic and diluted) remained the same as last year at a rate of €-0.12, while EBITDA improved to reach €-8.5million, compared with the previous year's figure of €-11.5 million, and EBITDA margin was -4.4% (-6.9%).

Kurt Ritter, CEO of Rezidor made the following statement within the Q1 Interim Report: "We are pleased to report continued strong RevPAR growth in the first quarter. Eastern Europe was the best performing market followed by the Nordics, where the improvement was partly supported by the fact that Easter falls in the second quarter this year. Rest of Western Europe also reported substantial growth and we see a continued solid development in Germany. In the Middle East and North Africa, the recent political unrest, as expected, had a negative impact on RevPAR development. The first quarter is seasonally the weakest of the year. We recorded a strong revenue growth and an improved EBITDA over last year. The margin development was however dampened by the opening up of a significant number of leased hotels since the first quarter of 2010. The beginning of 2011 has been very strong in terms of new hotel openings and signings. We opened 1,400 rooms in key markets like Stockholm, Brussels and Kuwait and added more than 2,200 rooms to our pipeline. All the new signings were under management or franchise contracts, supporting our asset-light strategy."

Author: Lee Marriott, Analyst