PARIS--Accor SA Wednesday said the group's turnaround efforts
bore their first fruits in 2014 as the French hotels group reported
a jump in full-year profit.
Accor said net profit rose 77% to EUR223 million from EUR126
million, helped by better operating profits.
Earnings before interest and taxes rose 15% to EUR602 million
from EUR521 million, boosted by a cost-savings plan and the
restructuring of the company's HotelInvest unit. Accor last month
reported a slight rise in sales driven by a rebound in Europe in
the fourth quarter that prompted the company to raise its full-year
profit goal.
The owner of the Ibis and Sofitel chains is two-thirds into a
three-year turnaround plan led by Chief Executive Sebastien Bazin
that aims to revive growth. Mr. Bazin at the end of 2013 started
off the transformation by splitting the hotels group into two
business poles: one that runs the group's 14 hotel brands another
one that manages the company's real-estate portfolio.
Over the past year, the hotels group started buying back hotels
that were previously under lease or management contracts, investing
a total of EUR1 billion in its property portfolio and stroke
partnerships to boost its brands in regions such as China and
Central Europe.
"2014 was a rich year, the foundations are in place," Mr. Bazin
said on a conference call.
Accor declined to provide any specific financial goals for the
year but said it aims to accelerate its transformation in 2015.
Write to Ruth Bender at ruth.bender@wsj.com
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