French and European giant Accor has announced a 4% increase in group revenues compared to 2019 and a 15% increase in RevPAR in the last quarter compared to the same period in 2019. At B&B HOTEL, it's the conquest of a new continent that is also highlighted in addition to record results.

Accor returns to performance

At Accor, this results announcement is also an opportunity to explain the reorganization of the group and the spin-off between the core brands and the Ennismore business unit. Sébastien Bazin announced that a new CFO would be appointed in May to enable Jean-Jaques Morin to devote himself fully to his new role as CEO of the group's core brands.

Accor has announced 299 hotel openings in 2022, representing 43,000 rooms and a net growth rate of 3.2%. To find out the details of this development, check back in a few weeks for the supply rankings produced by our partner MKG Consulting. The group has also announced a pipeline of 216,000 rooms, which should increase the number of rooms by a good quarter and enable it to exceed one million rooms in the coming years.

On the revenue side, all the elements have aligned to enable Accor to generate EBITDA of €675 million, still below the €825 million achieved in 2019, but much better than those of 2020 and 2021. The group was able to count on a very strong recovery in activity driven by demand eager to regain mobility, combined with a Euro/Dollar exchange rate favorable to the French group, all accompanied by an increase in the number of rooms that mechanically boosted revenues. The reopening of the Pullman Paris Montparnasse flagship and the takeover of Paris Society also boosted Accor's revenues.

This did not erase the net performance of the properties that carry the group's 46 brands with RevPAR up 4% at like-for-like ("LFL") compared to 2019.

The HotelService segment, which includes Management & Franchise (M&F) fees and Owner Services, performed well with +5% like-for-like revenue compared to 2019, or €3.194 billion. 

On the Management & Franchise side alone, revenues returned to pre-crisis levels with -1% L/L compared to 2019 and reached €1.052 billion.

The India, Middle East, Africa and Turkey region will have developed its turnover the most with +57% compared to 2019, driven by the World Cup in Qatar which demonstrates, if it were still necessary, the impact of major events. Next come the Americas, which did not suffer from the Omicron wave at the beginning of 2022, with +6%. In the zone where the group has the most hotels, turnover is -1% compared to 2019 in Southern Europe. Northern Europe, where the Benelux countries have not benefited from the recovery as strongly as their European neighbours, is 18% behind. Ditto for ASPAC, where Covid 0 policies have strongly impacted activity with -26% of turnover compared to 2019.

On a more micro scale, France has strongly driven the results of Southern Europe, a trend that bodes well for 2023, as France, where the group is extremely well established, is the host destination for the Rugby World Cup in 2023 before the Olympic Games in 2024.

The group has announced that it expects RevPAR to increase by 5 to 9% L/L compared to 2022.

It has also announced that it has reduced its financial debt from 1.844 billion at 31 December 2021 to 1.658 billion at 31 December 2022.

B&B to conquer new markets

The French group, which was born in Brittany in 1990, has announced a turnover of more than 1 billion euros, up 50% compared to 2019, also driven by an increase in the number of hotels between 2019 and early 2023. 

The RevPAR of hotels that carry the B&B HOTELS brand has increased by 13% compared to 2019.

B&B has announced 97 openings in 10 countries and intends to continue this development in 2023 with openings in three new destinations: the United Kingdom, Denmark and the United States. 

"The chain intends to offer its American clientele hotels with the best value for money, by adapting to the needs of this specific market. The aim is to open more than 400 hotels in the next ten years". Underlines the press release.

For a total of more than 100 new hotels opened by the end of 2023.

At the Hospitality Operator Forum, Fabrice Collet underlined the group's ambitions to reach 3,000 hotels opened by 2030, an ambition that was reiterated in this communication of the 2022 results.

To meet these growth targets, the group is strengthening its leadership. Valerio Duchini, previously CEO Italy, Slovenia and Hungary, took over the management of the American market on 20 February and became CEO USA. Liliana Comitini joined the group in February and was appointed CEO Italy, Slovenia and Hungary.