Benzinga | Oct 27, 2021 09:50AM EDT

Hilton Hotels Reports Mixed Q3 Results

* Hilton Hotels Corp (NYSE:HLT) reported third-quarter FY21 sales growth of 87% year-on-year, to $1.749 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $1.65 billion.

* Franchise and licensing fees revenue rose 87% Y/Y, and the Owned and leased hotels revenue increased 111.7%.

* The occupancy rate for the quarter was 67.9% in the U.S., 59.3% in Europe, and 52.9% in Middle East & Africa. In total, the System-wide occupancy rate was 64.3%.

* System-wide comparable RevPAR increased 98.7 Y/Y but decreased 18.8% versus the same period in 2019.

* Total expenses for the quarter rose 41.9%. The operating margin was 24.6%, and operating income for the quarter was $432 million versus $11 million last year.

* Adjusted EBITDA of $519 million increased 131.6% Y/Y. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded1190 basis points to 69.0%.

* Adjusted EPS of $0.78 missed the analyst consensus of $0.85.

* Hilton held $1.4 billion in cash and equivalents as of September 30, 2021.

* Hilton expects full year 2021 net unit growth to be 5.0% - 5.5%.

* Price action: HLT shares traded higher by 0.36% at $144.95 on the last check Wednesday.