The French hospitality giant Accor published Thursday a turnover still cut by half compared to the pre-Covid in the first half of 2021, but managed to return to the green over the period, despite a profitability still very degraded.
From January to June 2021, turnover amounted to 824 million euros, down 10% compared to last year and still down -53% compared to the first half of 2019, specifies a communicated.
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The group was however able to generate a net profit group share of 67 million euros against a loss of 1.5 billion euros a year earlier. The sixth largest hotel group in the world, which owns brands such as Ibis, Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Pullman, saw its RevPAR, a leading indicator of profitability in the hotel industry, show a drop of -60% compared to the first half of 2019.
“
This downturn masks very heterogeneous situations depending on the country
”, comments the group: while “
certain regions have experienced a notable upturn in activity from the first quarter of the year
”, others “
continued to be largely impacted by government restrictions linked to the health situation of Covid-19
”. In the second quarter, compared to 2019, RevPAR thus fell by -63% in southern Europe and -74% in northern Europe, against -38% in Asia-Pacific, including -19% for “
China and the Pacific
” , which is recovering sharply, while the indicator falls by -69% in Southeast Asia, which is very dependent on international tourism which is still at a standstill. In “
America
”, the RevPar fell by -63%.
The main hub, HotelServices - its core business, the services that Accor delivers to owners of hotels under the group's brand - posted sales of 545 million euros in the first half, down 14% compared to last year and 60% compared to 2019. Revenue generated by “
Hotel and other assets
”, at 281 million euros, was stable compared to last year, down 38% compared to 2019.
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"
The recovery has been clear since May
", comments CEO Sébastien Bazin, quoted by the press release, according to which "thanks to the"
massive deployment of vaccination and the gradual reopening of borders, these good trends will continue over the summer
". But it is "
too early to draw prospects for the end of the year
", he warns, adding that Accor has "
continued to manage with discipline (its) cash flow and (its) investments
".
