THIRD QUARTER RESULTS 2023
Meliá concludes a positive 3rd quarter, improving revenues by +16.1% (€1,478.3M) and net profit by +71.6% (€108.6M) to September |
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THIRD QUARTER RESULTS 2023
Meliá concludes a positive 3rd quarter, improving revenues by +16.1% (€1,478.3M) and net profit by +71.6% (€108.6M) to September |
Category: Worldwide - Industry economy
- Figures / Studies
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2023-11-07
Reservations maintained their positive trend, without any signs of a slowdown
Positive prospects for Q4, with an extended holiday season in the main destinations and a strong boost of the urban segment ahead of the Conference season
The strength of the Melia.com direct channel was a key driver of sales and helped maximise customer loyalty
The coasts of Mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands yielded the best performance, especially thanks to the British and Spanish markets. Combining all destinations, the Company outperformed the already positive figures of Q3 2022
EBITDAR margin rose by 171 basis point in the year to September with respect to the same period in 2022
With 18 hotel sign-ups to date, the Company expects to have signed up at least 30 new hotels by the end of 2023
The Group retained and widened its “Top Employer" certification, which recognises it as one of the best companies to work for in the main countries where it operates
Meliá celebrates the strong recovery seen in segments such as Tour Operators and Travel Agencies–key allies of the Group across all markets
Quarter's highlights:
Business performance
- Revenue evolution in Q3: +6.9% vs 2022
- RevPAR showed significant progress in the year to September (+19.5% vs 2022), with an especially solid performance in Spain, EMEA and APAC
- Melia.com channelled more than 46% of all centralised sales
- The Corporate and MICE segments confirmed their recovery, with an accumulated sales growth of more than 40% up on the first 9 months of 2022
- A steady decline in booking cancellation rates was also confirmed
- All of the above, together with improved efficiency procedures, helped increase EBITDAR margin by +171 bp
- The Villa Le Blanc Gran Meliá Hotel (Menorca) was recognised as one of the best luxury hotels in the country
Financial management
- Liquidity was €358.2M
- Post-IFRS net debt was reduced by €33.2M during the 3rd quarter
Strategy and growth
- Meliá signed up 18 hotels until September for a total of 3,500 rooms, and expects to add at least 12 further hotels by year-end, for an expected total over 7,000 rooms (under management and franchising models)
- 8 new hotels with 1,514 rooms were opened in 2023 to date, run under management or franchise contracts
- 26 new openings are scheduled until the end of 2024, with a main focus on Mexico, the Mediterranean Basin, and European capitals
Outlook
- Daily reservations continue to show good progress, without any signs of a slowdown, and there is a +22,5% increase in reservations on the books to year-end as compared to the same dates in 2022
- The Company expects a positive Q4, including the impact of an extended holiday season and the recovery in the MICE and Corporate segments
- The Company expects a positive winter season (November to April) in the Canary Islands and Cape Verde (+26,5% above the same season in 2022) , as well as a boost in the US and Canadian markets for Caribbean hotels
- After recovering much of the domestic demand volume, international tourism is expected to continue recovering in APAC, following an improvement in connectivity and more flexible entrance requirements
Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meliá Hotels International:
“The third quarter confirmed a solid recovery in tourism for Spanish holiday and urban destinations, as well as for the main European “bleisure" urban destinations, with average rates continuing to grow at around a mid-single digit and somewhat better occupancy figures, even though there is still a promising room for improvement to this respect, especially in European cities. All of this led to a global improvement of 19.5% in RevPAR during the year to date. Another positive development was the recovered strength of Asian domestic demand, both in the holiday and in the business segments, in addition to a more gradual return of international travellers to that continent.
Together with the solid results obtained, the trend recorded between July and September left us a few essential clues to understand the evolution of the business, such as an improved market confidence, which translated into a rise in advance sales and a steady decline in booking cancellation rates, accompanied by a surge in last-minute sales, or the return of a healthy mix of nationalities among our customers, with a noteworthy increase in the US market towards European cities and Spanish holiday destinations. We are also happy to confirm that 2023 is shaping up as the year of the recovery for the Corporate and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) segments, with turnover figures already above those recorded before the pandemic and an excellent outlook for 2024, and also the consolidation of our digitalisation efforts as a competitive advantage, with our Melia.com channel already accounting for more than 46% of all centralised sales of the Group.
To summarise, I would say that, despite a macroeconomic context which is still causing some uncertainty, our Company maintains a positive outlook, with a level of reservations on the books above those recorded in the same dates of the previous year, and improvement prospects in such important destinations for the months to come as are Mexico, Dominican Republic, Canary Islands and Cape Verde, together with the major European cities and Asian destinations."
Today, Meliá Hotels International presented its results for the first 9 months of the year, after closing a very positive third quarter for holiday and urban destinations, mainly in Spain (where summer is the peak period of the year) and in the main European cities.
Against an international background of uncertainty and intensified geopolitical tensions, tourism has gained momentum after the pandemic and continues to grow steadily, confirming the good prospects announced by the UNWTO for this year, based on a resilient demand and the increasing priority placed by society on travelling and experiences.
The revenue recorded by Meliá Hotels International in the 3rd quarter alone was €568.5M, with a total revenue of €1,478.3M for the first 9 months of 2023. This, together with improved efficiency procedures based on digitalisation and a new operational model, as well as the collaboration with key providers in certain sectors such as energy, helped the Company increase its EBITDAR margin by 171 basis points during the first 9 months of the year as compared to the same period in the previous year.
Consolidated profit in the year to September (€108.6M) was 71.6% up on the previous year, while EBITDA without capital gains maintained its positive trend, with €386.9M in the first 9 months of the year. If we look at the 3rd quarter alone, EBITDA was €168.4M, i.e. 1.9% up on the same quarter of 2022.
These positive results were reflected in RevPAR (Average Revenue per Available Room), with a 19.5% increase in the year to September (+6.6% for the quarter alone) resulting from the positive evolution of occupancy levels (which are already close to those of 2019 in Spain and continue to improve in EMEA, the Americas and APAC) and to the continued growth in average rates, which, albeit slightly more moderate than in the same period of 2022, was driven by a positive evolution in demand, especially in premium and luxury products and services, where the Group has pledged a strong commitment by expanding its luxury hotel and premium room portfolio.
Additionally, digitalisation has helped the Company optimise its revenue, with the Melia.com channel accounting for more than 46% of total centralised sales in the first 9 months of the year.
Meliá Hotels International's commitment to innovation and brand positioning continued to deliver good results, such as the important awards obtained this year by the luxury brand Gran Meliá, whose hotels Palacio de Isora (Tenerife), Hotel de Mar (Mallorca) and Villa Le Blanc (Menorca) were honoured in various categories of the Beyond Luxury Awards, the Villa Le Blanc being also listed among the 10 best luxury hotels in Spain. Moreover, the Villa Le Blanc was distinguished as the “best new hotel of the year" in the renowned Condé Nast Traveller Awards.
Another success story is that of the ZEL brand, a result of our partnership with Rafael Nadal. Its first hotel to open, Zel Mallorca, had an excellent market penetration, with high occupancy levels and high average rates throughout the quarter, and outperformed the hotel's results prior to its transformation and rebranding by more than 50%, to the point that it will make it possible to extend the season until the end of November.
The recovery was particularly noticeable in tourism related to conferences, groups and events (MICE), where the turnover recorded in the year to date plus the estimate for the rest of the year is already up on the previous year by 46%, and is also above that of 2019, the year before the pandemic.
By segment, the most important one was conventions and meetings with 46% of the total, followed by conferences with 15%, and lastly incentives with 7%. However, all of them experienced a 2-digit growth with respect to the previous year. Spain itself remained as the most important market, even though the fastest growth towards Spanish destinations was seen in the European and American markets, which are already completely recovered. Forecasts for this segment in 2024 maintain the same trend as demand continues to grow, and the value on the books for the MICE business is currently 26% up on last year's figure for 2023.
Strategic growth
In line with the Group's strategy to prioritise growth in the main holiday destinations, so far this year Meliá Hotels International has opened 8 hotels for a total of 1,514 new rooms, reaching out to new countries such as Albania or Malta, in addition to strengthening our presence in Spain and expanding our African portfolio with the new Ngorongoro Lodge, as well as our Asian portfolio, with openings in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, among others.
As far as new sign-ups are concerned, in the year to September Meliá has signed up 18 new hotels with more than 3,500 rooms, all of them under an asset-light model (mainly via management or franchise contracts). By year-end, the Company expects to sign up at least 12 further hotels, thus adding 7,000 new rooms.
The Group is set to give a strong boost to its expansion plans with 26 openings scheduled from now until the end of 2024, including the Gran Meliá Palazzo Cordusio and another hotel under The Meliá Collection, also located in Milan, both of which will consolidate our presence in the Italian city with an offer of spectacular luxury products. During 2024, we will also grow in other European cities, including hotels such as the ME Lisbon and the ME Malta, as well as in the Americas, where we expect to open 10 new hotels in destinations like Mexico, in addition to our continued growth in the Middle East.
The Company further reports two important events that took place months ago: on 30/06/2023, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority acquired a majority stake in the group of companies owning 7 hotels located in Calviá (Mallorca), which are currently operating and will continue to operate under Meliá's management (co-owner of the same group with a significant stake); on 31/08/2023, the same entity acquired 100% of the share capital of Equity Inmuebles S.L.U., owner of 17 hotels located in different parts of Spain which will continue to be operated by Meliá under management contracts for an average term of 10 to 15 years, depending on the classification of each hotel as strategic or non-strategic, with the latter including certain exit windows which would allow for the potential transfer of some of these establishments to thirdparty operators.
Meliá is very satisfied with both agreements, thanks to which the Company will maintain these important assets in its portfolio in such a key market as Spain. This is all the more so in respect of the portfolio of Equity Inmuebles, as the renovation and shortterm repositioning plans envisaged for these strategic establishments will undoubtedly make it possible to bring forward their optimisation and value enhancement.
Performance and outlook by region:
Spain
- The evolution of holiday hotels outperformed that of 2022, with the best performance being yielded by the hotels located in the Balearic Islands and mainland coasts
- In the holiday segment, the British and Spanish markets stood out, with a prevalence of direct customers via Melia.com and Tour Operation through our main partners
- Significant improvement of RevPAR in urban hotels thanks to a combination of good occupancy levels and prices, with Barcelona and Seville leading the growth
- Positive prospects for holiday hotels due to a higher anticipation in bookings which will allow for longer opening seasons in several destinations
- Expected increases in occupancy and rates for urban hotels in the 4th quarter, including the positive impact of the Palau de Congressos of Catalonia, reopened by Meliá together with the Gran Meliá Torre Melina
- Positive evolution in the Canary Islands, which already registers 26,5% more reservations -in comparable terms- and is emerging as a safe destination compared to others
EMEA
- A positive performance in the main “bleisure" cities of Germany thanks to the events (and some conferences) celebrated during the summer, and also to the Corporate segment, which experienced a boost as from September in cities in the west of the country.
- France maintained an upward trend in RevPAR, with improved occupancy levels during the quarter thanks to events such as the Rugby World Cup, which allowed for an increase in rates, and a prevalence of direct customers, followed by Tour Operators, especially from the United States.
- The United Kingdom saw a remarkable 2-digit increase in occupancy and maintained its upward trend in rates, both in London and in the hotels located in the north, with a positive impact of major events such as Wimbledon, the London Fashion Week, and the British Open golf championship.
- Concerning forecasts, the Company expects a positive 4th quarter in all markets, highlighting the strong performance in the conference segment in German cities, as well as Paris and Milan, in addition to a number of major events to be held in Paris and the United Kingdom.
The Americas
- Mexico: The 3rd quarter saw a temporary slowdown in the US and Canadian markets which is expected to be corrected in the coming months to exceed the previous year's figures, driven by the strength of direct customers, OTAs and Tour Operators, mainly from the US, Canada and the domestic market.
- In the Dominican Republic, revenue showed a positive evolution in the year to September following the repositioning and subsequent reopening of a number of hotels, the weight of the domestic market, and the good performance of Tour Operators working mainly with the US, Canadian and British markets. With a view to the 4th quarter, all segments are expected to improve thanks to average rates, improved connectivity with North America, and Tour Operators working with the European markets.
- In the United States, the hotel in Orlando almost matched the good figures of 2022, while the one in New York recorded 2-digit increases in domestic and international customers, growing in all segments. As regards the 4th quarter, New York is set to record an improvement in volume and rates, with a good performance across all segments, while Orlando is expected to confirm the positive evolution of the Melia.com channel and the MICE segment.
- Cuba saw a positive evolution in international tourism, as opposed to a shrinking domestic market, with rates suffering the negative impact of the devaluation of the Cuban peso. There was a slight increase in flight operations and an improvement in the nationality mix, led by the Tour Operation segment. In the months to come, foreign markets are expected to continue growing and occupancy levels are set to improve.
Asia
- China maintains its strong domestic demand, recovering much of the volume lost after the pandemic in the holiday segment, while the Corporate and MICE segments continue to recover. International demand continues to recover as traveller mobility is expected to further reactivate, including family tourism associated with the “Golden Week" and the greater dynamism of the Corporate and MICE segments.
- As concerns Southeast Asia, Indonesia saw an increase in international arrivals following the implementation of more flexible policies, with Bali leading the way mainly thanks to the Australian, Indian and Chinese markets. Vietnam boosted its operations with Korea and Australia and recorded an increase in the activity of the Corporate and MICE segments. From the 4th quarter onwards, we expect a rise in international operations thanks to more flexible policies in the main destinations and higher connectivity, as illustrated by Bali, which boosted its direct connections with cities such as Amsterdam, Doha, Dubai or Tokyo, among others.
In general terms, the Company reports a 3rd quarter which maintained the positive trend of the first semester, confirming the strength of both the holiday and urban leisure markets, with revenue figures above those of the same period in 2022 for all strategic areas, and underpinning favourable estimates while pointing to the ample room for improvement that the Group expects to see in the months to come.
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