Business Forum • 29 July, 2024 at 11:50 AM
The first half of 2024 confirms Accor's growth outlook, as presented at the Capital Markets Day on June 27, 2023 and reiterated in recent earnings and revenue releases. The Group's diversification, both in terms of geographies and segments, plays a key role for each of the two divisions. Demand remains generally robust and Accor has the required exposure to capture it.
During the first half of 2024, Accor opened 146 hotels, representing 24,000 rooms, i.e. net unit growth of 4.1% over the last 12 months. At the end of June 2024, the Group had a hotel portfolio of 838,722 rooms (5,682 hotels) and a pipeline of 218,000 rooms (1,297 hotels).
Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor, said: “Once again in this first half-year, Accor posted solid performances, in line with the medium-term outlook we presented to our investors last year. This demonstrates the strength of our model, the operational and financial discipline of our teams, and the strong momentum of the Group and its brands. Activity in the second quarter remained strong in all regions and for all our brands, our pace of development accelerated and our leading position in luxury and lifestyle was further strengthened by major partnerships. These performances enable us to raise our RevPAR target for 2024 and to reaffirm our confidence in the Group's strength and ambition.”
”The coming weeks will also be marked by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, of which Accor is one of the partners. For this unique event, our teams, who have been mobilised for months, will be putting their expertise, their passion for hospitality and their generosity at the service of the Athletes' Village, the Media Village and all visitors to our hotels, thereby helping to raise the profile of France throughout the world,” added Sebastien Bazin.
For the first half of 2024, the Group recorded revenue of €2,677 million, up 11% compared to the first half of 2023. This growth breaks down as a 4% increase for the Premium, Midscale and Economy division and a 22% increase for the Luxury & Lifestyle division.
Scope effects, mainly related to the takeover of Potel & Chabot (in October 2023) in the Luxury & Lifestyle division (Hotel Assets & Other segment), contributed by €117 million. Currency effects had a negative impact of €63 million, mainly related to the Turkish lira (-39%), the Australian dollar (-4%), the Egyptian pound (-18%) and the Argentine peso (-77%).
Premium, Midscale and Economy revenue
Premium, Midscale and Economy, which includes fees from Management & Franchise (M&F), Services to Owners and Hotel Assets & Other of the Group's Premium, Midscale and Economy brands, generated revenue of €1,473 million, up 4% compared to the first half of 2023. This increase is broadly in line with the level of activity in the first half.
The Management & Franchise (M&F) business posted revenue of €431 million, up 7% compared to the first half of 2023 and slightly exceeding RevPAR growth during the period (+6%).
Services to Owners revenue, which includes Sales, Marketing, Distribution and Loyalty activities, as well as shared services and the reimbursement of hotel costs, amounted to €538 million, up 3% compared to the first half of 2023. This increase, which was more moderate than the change in RevPAR, reflects a base effect from the previous year, mentioned in the first quarter revenue release, which included the re-invoicing of costs incurred by Accor in providing supporter reception services during the soccer World Cup in Qatar.
Hotel Assets & Other revenue was up 2% compared to the first half of 2023. This segment, which is closely tied to activity in Australia, is affected by the current weakness of leisure demand.
Luxury & Lifestyle revenue
Luxury & Lifestyle, which includes fees from Management & Franchise (M&F), Services to Owners and Hotel Assets and Other of the Group's Luxury & Lifestyle brands, generated revenue of €1,243 million, up 22% compared to the first half of 2023. This increase reflects the excellent performance of this business, the increase of the fees linked to the residential activity and a scope effect linked to the takeover of Potel & Chabot.
The Management & Franchise (M&F) business posted revenue of €242 million, up 15% compared to the first half of 2023, driven by RevPAR growth (+7%) and the favorable timing of fees related to the residential activity in the Lifestyle segment.
Services to Owners revenue, which includes Sales, Marketing, Distribution and Loyalty activities, as well as shared services and the reimbursement of hotel costs, amounted to €716 million, up 9% compared to the first half of 2023. This increase is linked to business growth in terms of RevPAR and the number of rooms.
Hotel Assets & Other revenue was up 84% compared to the first half of 2023. This activity includes a significant scope effect linked to the takeover of Potel & Chabot in October 2023.
Group EBITDA
Group EBITDA amounted to €504 million for the first half of 2024, up 13% compared to the first half of 2023. This performance was linked to strong revenue, the operating leverage of the M&F activity and strict cost discipline in Services to Owners, enabling the Group to post positive EBITDA for this part of the business, as expected.
Net profit, Group share, amounted to €253 million for the first half of 2024 compared to €248 million in the first half of 2023.
The improvement to €49 million in the share of net profit of equity-investments for the first half of 2024, compared with €9 million in the first half of 2023, is mainly linked to AccorInvest, which benefited from the stabilization of activity in Europe and the recognition of capital gains linked to its ongoing asset disposal plan.
Income tax amounted to €105 million in the first half of 2024 compared to €67 million in the first half of 2023, an increase linked to growth and normalization of tax rate post- Covid.
Recurring investments, which include key money paid for development as well as digital and IT investments, were slightly higher than in the first half of 2023 at €90 million due to the Group's acceleration in the Luxury & Lifestyle segment, in line with the guidance presented at the Capital Markets Day on June 27, 2023.
Change in working capital requirement is seasonal by nature, and reflects the good level of business during the first half of the year, with an increase in trade receivables.
Group net financial debt at June 30, 2024 was €2,934 million, compared to €2,074 million at December 31, 2023. The main explanation for this change is the execution of the share buyback program and the payment of the dividend during the first half of 2024.
At June 30, 2024, the Group's average cost of debt stood at 2.6% with an average maturity of around 3.5 years.
At the end of June 2024, including the €1 billion undrawn revolving credit line signed in
December 2023, Accor had a liquidity position of €1.9 billion.
Outlook for FY 2024
For FY 2024, Accor is announcing the following guidance:
- · RevPAR growth of between 4% and 5%
- · Network unit of between 3% and 4%
- · A positive contribution to EBITDA by Services to Owners
- · EBITDA of between €1,095 million and €1,125 million
Medium-term outlook
The Group maintains its medium-term outlook as presented at its Capital Markets Day on June 27, 2023:
- · Annual RevPAR growth of between 3% and 4% (CAGR 2023-27)
- · Annual network unit growth of between 3% and 5% (CAGR 2023-27)
- · M&F revenue growth of between 6% and 10% (CAGR 2023-27)
- · A positive contribution to EBITDA by Services to Owners
- · EBITDA growth of between 9% and 12% (CAGR 2023-27)
- · Recurring free cash flow conversion of more than 55%
- · A return to shareholders of around €3 billion over the period 2023-2027