Marriott swings into first loss since 2011 as hotels hit by Covid-19 restrictions  

Social-distancing efforts weighed heavily on the Marriott hotels second-quarter results

International hotels operator Marriott swung to a loss as travel bans and social-distancing efforts weighed heavily on the company’s second-quarter results.

In the first quarterly loss for the company since 2011, revenue per available room, or RevPar, declined by 84%, the company said. 

Marriott relies more heavily on higher-priced hotel brands than Hilton Worldwide, leaving it more exposed to corporate travel policies and the whims of airline passengers.

Marriott’s RevPar was still down 70% in July compared with a year earlier, an indication of the long recovery facing the hotel industry.

Marriott said occupancy rates are reaching 60% in its Greater China hotels, compared to 70% at the same time last year. Marriott raised cash through bond sales and credit card deals during the second quarter to give itself liquidity to ride out the pandemic. Industry executives say a full recovery will take at least two years. Marriott shares traded little changed and are now 28% lower in the past year. 

Meanwhile, in the UK, fashion retailer Superdry traded ahead of expectations in the latest quarter and has boosted its liquidity with a new £70m (€77.5m) lending facility to get it through the Covid-19 crisis, sending its shares higher.

Superdry, which sells sweatshirts, hoodies, and jackets adorned with Japanese text, said that while trading in the 13 weeks to July 25, its fiscal first quarter, was materially impacted by the crisis, the 24% fall in group revenue was better than its initial expectations. 

- Bloomberg and Reuters