logo

Accor Group revenues top $5.87bln in 2024, up 11%

Zawya25-02-2025

Accor Group reported a revenue of €5.606 billion ($5.873 billion) in 2024, up 11% from 2023, while consolidated recurring EBITDA came to €1.12 billion, a new record for Accor and up 12% versus FY 2023.
This performance is due to the resilience of RevPAR, portfolio growth, margin improvement in the M&F business, strict cost discipline in Services to Owners and the development of the Hotel Assets & Other business (particularly in the Luxury & Lifestyle division) combined with a number of acquisitions (Rikas and Potel & Chabot), the hospitlaity major said.
Net profit, group share, was €610 million in 2024, compared with €633 million in 2023. Diluted earnings per share rose to €2.33 from €2.22 in 2023, thanks to a lower average number of shares outstanding following share buybacks.
The revenue growth breaks down into a 5% increase for the Premium, Midscale and Economy (PM&E) division and 19% for the Luxury & Lifestyle division, it said.
Scope effects, linked mainly to the full-year effect of Potel & Chabot (takeover in October 2023) and the acquisition of Rikas (in March 2024) in the Luxury & Lifestyle division (the Hotel Assets & Other activity), positively contributed for €223 million.
Currency effects had a negative impact of €117 million, stemming mainly from the Turkish lira ((28)%), the Egyptian pound ((32)%) and the Brazilian real ((7)%), it said.
Throughout 2024, including a very strong fourth quarter, the hospitality sector proved resilient in a contrasting consumer environment. The group's diversification in terms of both geography and segment enabled it to post even stronger activity. As a result, both divisions - Premium, Midscale and Economy (PM&E) and Luxury & Lifestyle (L&L) - reported results well in line with the outlook presented at the June 2023 Investor Day.
In 2024, Accor opened 293 hotels, corresponding to more than 50,000 rooms, i.e., net network growth of 3.5% in the last 12 months. At end-December 2024, the Group had a hotel portfolio of 850,285 rooms (5,682 hotels) and a pipeline of more than 233,000 rooms (1,381 hotels).
Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Accor, said: 'Ambition, discipline and high standards are the three pillars that have guided Accor's actions in 2024. They have once again enabled us to post record results, in line with each of the objectives we have set for the Group. This performance reflects the extraordinary commitment of our teams, the strength of our brands and our digital tools, the renewed confidence of our partners and the efficiency of our organization based on two autonomous and complementary divisions. Thanks to this vigorous growth, we will propose an increased return to shareholders at the next general meeting.
"On these solid foundations, and by continuing to control our destiny, we are approaching 2025 with confidence and the ambition to once again deliver excellent results,' he said.
Fourth quarter RevPAR
The Premium, Midscale and Economy (PM&E) division posted a 4% increase in RevPAR compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, driven equally by prices and occupancy.
The Europe, North Africa (ENA) region posted a 2% increase in RevPAR compared with Q4 2023, driven by higher occupancy rates. The three main countries pursued the momentum seen in the first 9 months of the year, with Germany outperforming France and the UK.
The Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific region rebounded in the quarter, posting a 5% increase in RevPAR compared with the fourth quarter of 2023. Two-thirds of this increase in RevPAR was driven by prices, and one-third by occupancy rates.
In the Middle East-Africa region, which accounts for 24% of the region's room revenue, Saudi Arabia explains the rebound in RevPAR. In the third quarter of 2024, Saudi Arabia had to deal with a difficult basis of comparison linked to religious pilgrimages. This country is benefiting from strong demand, reflected in an occupancy rate now at 70%, 10 points above the pre-crisis level.
The Luxury & Lifestyle (L&L) division posted its best performance for the year with a 10% increase in RevPAR compared with Q4 2023, driven by both prices and occupancy.
Copyright 2024 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

How Turkey and Qatar are playing an outsized role in Trump's new Middle East
How Turkey and Qatar are playing an outsized role in Trump's new Middle East

Middle East Eye

time2 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

How Turkey and Qatar are playing an outsized role in Trump's new Middle East

Turkey and Qatar are making themselves crucial to US President Donald Trump's reshaping of the Middle East. Look no further than in Syria, where Qatari gas and cash, along with Turkish military might, are helping war-ravaged Syria back on its feet while Trump tries to fulfil his promise to pull the plug on western interventionists and 'nation builders'. The two countries' rising stock is not going unnoticed among Arab officials. 'Trump has too much on his plate; China, Iran talks, the war in Ukraine. He doesn't want to intervene. In Syria, he has these two local allies who don't mind getting involved in the nitty-gritty details of Syria's reconstruction. He is going to lean on them,' one senior Arab official told Middle East Eye. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are paying the salaries of Syrian government employees. In March, Qatar began supplying gas to Syria via Jordan. Meanwhile, Turkey's government is in talks with Damascus on a defence pact amid Israeli air strikes in Syria. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters That Turkey and Qatar are the regional powers most active in Syria should not come as a surprise. Turkey shares a long border with Syria and was the last true backer of rebels who fought to oust Bashar al-Assad after most Gulf monarchies gave up on their cause. Qatar was the exception. It was the sole Gulf state to recognise and host Syria's opposition. Conversely, the UAE made a big bet on rehabilitating Assad. MEE revealed that the UAE was negotiating a grand bargain to lift US sanctions on Assad in return for reducing Iran's influence. The talks continued up until the last minute. Assad was toppled in an offensive led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, whose commander, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is Syria's new president. The biggest deal Turkey and Qatar have made in Syria so far was in May. US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack assumes Syria envoy post Read More » Along with the US, they signed a $7bn energy agreement that envisions the three countries building four gas power plants in Syria and one solar plant to boost the war-ravaged country's meagre energy supplies. Qatar's UCC construction and energy company, owned by the prominent al-Khayyat family, is set to lead the project. Speaking in Damascus at the signing ceremony, US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack took the opportunity to praise the 'alignment of these amazing countries". 'A young and prosperous Qatar, one of the most incredible and ancient civilisations in Syria; [and] one of the most dominant empires that ever existed in the Ottoman Empire and the succession of Türkiye.' Barrack framed Syria as the poster child for Trump's vision of a Middle East, where the US was empowering local countries to redress the wrong of Sykes-Picot, the agreement that colonial Britain and France used to divide Syria during WWI. 'That mistake cost generations. We will not make it again,' he wrote on X. 'Need to address the PKK' If there is any doubt about whose voice the US will give the most credence to in Syria, look to Ankara, where Barrack also serves as Trump's ambassador to Turkey. 'The Trump administration understands the Turks have a vital national security interest in Syria. He respects that in a way others in Washington haven't,' Robert Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria, told MEE. 'The US has to work with the Turks otherwise, there will be another war' - Bassam Barabandi, former Syrian diplomat and opposition activist During the Biden administration, Syria was a sore point in US-Turkey ties. US troops first entered Syria in 2014 to fight the Islamic State militant (IS) group. They partnered with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkey views the SDF as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK has waged a decades-long guerrilla war in southern Turkey and is labelled a terrorist organisation by the US and the European Union. 'You can't have a stable Syria without addressing the PKK. The US has to work with the Turks, otherwise there will be another war,' Bassam Barabandi, a former Syrian diplomat and opposition activist, told MEE. During his first term in office, Trump tried to withdraw US troops from Syria. His own officials hamstrung him, and his former defence secretary, Jim Mattis, resigned over a partial troop withdrawal. Although US troops were ostensibly in Syria to fight IS, they came to be seen as a force denying territory to Iran. With Tehran's ally Assad gone, that rationale no longer exists. Trump himself says Turkey has 'taken over Syria', alluding to its close ties to Sharaa. He appears to sense this as his chance to withdraw troops, despite pleas from Israel and the SDF to keep them there. Barrack told Turkish media in June that the US planned to downsize from eight bases to one in northeastern Syria. How Trump's allies view Turkey and Qatar Turkey and Qatar have long been seen as close partners. In a sense, they complement each other. Turkey has the second largest army in Nato, but is cash poor. Qatar is one of the world's top exporters of Liquefied Natural Gas, but has just 300,000 nationals. Turkey has a military base in Qatar. Doha made tens of billions of dollars in investments in Turkey during its inflation crisis, providing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with an economic lifeline. The two countries' alignment was solidified during the 2011 Arab Spring, when they backed popular protests against rulers like Assad in Syria and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. Saudi Arabia and the UAE accused them of supporting political Islamists who Abu Dhabi and Riyadh feared would unsettle their monarchies. The rift got nasty in 2017, when a Saudi-led blockade was imposed on Qatar. That Trump should welcome Qatar and Turkish investment in Syria now shows how rapidly the region has reorganised itself. In 2017, he gave a White House speech throwing his weight behind the blockade. Until recently, Trump's Middle East director at the National Security Council was Eric Trager, who has been critical of Qatar. 'You certainly have those in the administration, not the Witkoffs or Barracks, who still believe in a Muslim Brotherhood boogyman. This is deep-seated. So it's interesting to see Trump's really close cohort move beyond this,' Natasha Hall, a Syria expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, )said, referring to US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. Both of Trump's close advisors enjoy good relations with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The UAE's hotspot troubles The Arab Spring descended into a slew of conflicts, of which Syria was just one. After the Nato-led removal of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Turkey backed a government in Tripoli while Saudi Arabia and the UAE threw their support behind a rogue general and one-time CIA asset, Khalifa Haftar. The UAE also backed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the general who overthrew the democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, whom Erdogan backed. Turkey and Qatar's growing clout in the Middle East vis-a-vis Syria contrasts with mounting troubles for the UAE in some of these hotspots. UAE lobbying Trump administration to reject Arab League Gaza plan, officials say Read More » Ties between Egypt and the UAE are becoming seriously frayed, although both sides are trying to downplay it, Arab officials tell MEE. Sisi's economy is in crisis, but he has failed to push through the reforms that the UAE, his top backer, wants. The Emiratis have lobbied against Cairo in Washington, MEE revealed. The UAE's ambassador to the US publicly backed a plan floated by Trump to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza - a thought that unnerves Egyptian generals. Libya remains divided. Haftar's bid to conquer Tripoli failed in 2020. His son and likely successor, Saddam, has even courted Turkey and Qatar as their power rises. He visited Doha and Ankara this year. The parliament in Eastern Libya controlled by him is weighing whether to agree to a contentious maritime deal that Turkey favours. As Turkey and Qatar sign energy deals in Damascus under US auspices, the UAE is bogged down in a brutal civil war in Sudan. There it is backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the Sudanese army, which is backed by Turkey, Egypt and Iran. Litmus test Syria is going to be a test case as the first post-Arab Spring country to be rebuilt after the 2021 al-Ula agreement, in which the Gulf states agreed to put their differences behind them and mend fences. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have patched up ties, but the Qataris and Emiratis still have a chilly relationship. The same goes for the Turks. 'Syria's greatest benefit is that Assad was ousted after al-Ula,' a Syria analyst in the UAE told MEE, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump announced in Saudi Arabia that he was lifting all US sanctions on Syria, and he credited both Erdogan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with convincing him to do so. 'The Saudis have been just as instrumental as the Turks and Qataris, if not more, in convincing Trump to drop sanctions on Syria. They want a stable Syria in order to focus on their own economic development at home,' Anna Jacobs, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, told MEE. 'The new Saudi looks for interest, not emotion or ideology,' Barabandi told MEE. 'They are with Turkey and Qatar on Syria. The US's goal is to facilitate the flow of GCC money into Syria. That's it.' Even the UAE is stepping in and trying to gain influence. In May, state-owned Dubai Ports World signed a pledge to invest $800m to modernise the port of Tartus. The analyst in the UAE said Sharaa's government welcomed the UAE's investment in Tartus because it needed a country that was seen as agreeable to Russia, which still has a military base there. France's CMA CGM shipping inked a 30-year deal to operate Latakia port in Syria. 'Sharaa couldn't have Turkey or a European state come in. Russia would have complained about that. The UAE is a friend of Russia,' the analyst said. The UAE's Al Habtoor group, a massive conglomerate that spans real estate to the automotive industry, is set to send a delegation to Syria this week. Ford said that Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia all have a convergence of interests in Syria to ensure its transition is stable, and Iran, Assad's old patron, stays out. 'I'm not saying Abu Dhabi is comfortable with a conservative Islamist in power, but they all want to see Sharaa reduce Iran's influence,' he said. No nation-building The UAE, which has the closest ties to Israel among Gulf states, also brokered secret talks between Syria and Israel, Reuters reported in May. Israel pummelled Syria after Assad's removal and has sent troops to occupy a swath of the southeast, south of Damascus. MEE previously reported that the US lobbied Turkey and Israel into deconfliction talks. 'I think the Emiratis, and other Gulf states' number one concern is that there not be an outbreak of violence between the Turks and Israelis in Syria or the Iranians and Israelis,' Ford said. Syria after Assad: Sharaa's delicate balancing act with Israel Read More » He said while Turkey and Qatar have stepped up in Syria, it's a leap to say the US is recognising it as a sphere of their influence. 'That is too nineteenth century,' he said. 'The Trump people don't object to Turkey and Qatar getting involved in Syria. But they don't object to the Saudis and Emiratis getting involved either. Ultimately, the goal is for commerce between Israel and Syria.' Still, regional officials say Sharaa's ascent to power has bolstered Turkey and Qatar's power in the Levant. 'Sharaa will take Emirati money, but he won't trust them with security,' the Arab official told MEE. 'The UAE is on their back foot.' However, the real change is that Syria is not talking about elections. 'Sharaa has gone out of his way to prove that he won't be part of any political Islamist movement beyond Syria's borders,' the UAE-based analyst said. 'And he isn't mentioning democracy.'

Indonesia signs $10bn deal to buy 48 Turkish Kaan fighter jets
Indonesia signs $10bn deal to buy 48 Turkish Kaan fighter jets

Middle East Eye

time14 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

Indonesia signs $10bn deal to buy 48 Turkish Kaan fighter jets

Indonesia will purchase 48 Kaan fifth-generation fighter jets from Turkey in a deal valued at more than $10bn, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday. The agreement was signed at the Indo Defence 2025 exhibition in Jakarta, which has been attended by Turkish defence firms. The deal will span 10 years and includes the co-production of some Kaan jet components in Indonesia. Erdogan thanked his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, describing the agreement as the largest defence industry export deal in Turkey's history. Yusuf Akbaba, a Turkish defence industry expert, said the deal is a landmark for the Kaan project, noting that Ankara would have struggled to fund the development of the fifth-generation aircraft alone. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'To reduce costs, it is essential to increase the number of orders,' Akbaba told Middle East Eye. 'As the number of units increases, the per-unit price of the aircraft decreases.' Akbaba believes Indonesia's participation could attract interest from Islamic countries and other states in the Asian market. 'Countries like Qatar, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, and a few others are also considering acquiring the aircraft,' he said. 'After this order from Indonesia, procurement processes in those countries may also accelerate.' Azerbaijan announced last year that it would participate in the project, while reports in January indicated that Saudi Arabia was interested in becoming a partner, although that has not yet materialised. For Jakarta, the Kaan would help to replace its dated F-16 fleet and also fill a gap left after it parted ways with South Korea on its KF-21 project. Experts say the KF-21 is not a genuine fifth-generation aircraft, while the Kaan features some sixth-generation capabilities, such as AI integration and drone teaming. Turkey has been developing a fifth-generation aircraft since 2010, but the project accelerated after Ankara was removed from the F-35 programme by the US in 2019 over its purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile system. The Kaan made its maiden flight in February 2024, temporarily using two General Electric F110-GE-129 engines, the same as those found in Turkish F-16s. Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), which is leading the Kaan project, is working on a locally produced engine for the aircraft. The company aims to deliver the first plane to the Turkish Air Force by the end of 2028, although some analysts predict this might be delayed until 2030. The first 10 Kann Block-1 fighter jets are scheduled to be delivered to the Turkish Air Force between 2030 and 2033.

Why ‘King of Cattle' is embracing a plan to save the Amazon
Why ‘King of Cattle' is embracing a plan to save the Amazon

Gulf Today

timea day ago

  • Gulf Today

Why ‘King of Cattle' is embracing a plan to save the Amazon

Manuela Andreoni and Ana Mano, Reuters Decades of ranching in the Amazon have earned Roque Quagliato, Brazil's "King of Cattle," great wealth — and some trouble. His family's immense farms were accused of submitting workers to slavery-like conditions in the 1990s and deforesting huge tracts of the rainforest in the early 2000's. But as Brazil's beef industry evolves under pressure from some of the world's greatest export markets, Quagliato, at 85, is now in evidence for something else: he is the face of the push to fix cattle ranching in the Amazon, one of the world's biggest drivers of deforestation. Quagliato's cattle were the first to be tagged with chips in their ears as part of a government program to make millions of cattle in the Amazonian state of Para traceable around the time world leaders arrive there for the United Nations climate summit in November. "What we hope is that, at the end, the international market gives Brazil a better price," he said at the sidelines of a recent cattle auction in Xinguara, one of the beef capitals of Para. Deforesters, he added, are now "a matter for jail." Quagliato has his eyes on exporting pricier and more demanding markets in the United States, Europe and Asia, some of which buy from Brazilian states but not Para at least partly because of concerns around animal health and links to deforestation. "Brazil is hustling to open high-demand markets such as Japan and South Korea, and improving its traceability system is one of the key steps to reaching that goal," said Renan Araujo, a senior market analyst at S&P Global. Para, which has a herd of 26 million, about the size of Australia's, wants to tag all its cattle by 2027 as it seizes on the global spotlight to become a test for a wider policy and a major shift for the world's largest beef exporter. So far, it's off to an inauspicious start. The law, passed in late 2023, requires that ranchers in Para identify their cattle by the end of 2026. But by May ranchers in the state of Para had only tagged some 12,000 cattle. But the buy-in of big ranchers, like Quagliato, has allayed concerns that "there was going to be wholesale rejection" of the policy, said Andy Jarvis, who directs the program Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund, which donated $16.3 million to Para's project. "The success of this initiative needs the farmers and ranchers themselves to be supporting it." The ambitious move, if successful, could be a turning point in the struggle to halt the destruction of the world's largest rainforest. Environmentalists have long argued that improvements in cattle traceability would give law enforcement a powerful tool to choke off ranching in illegally deforested farms from the global supply chains relying on Brazil to feed growing global appetite for beef. While the state's proposal to track cattle individually is no silver bullet against deforestation, it would be a step forward that many thought unimaginable not so long ago. Many ranchers are resisting the program, which they think will take some of them out of business, and few believe the government will meet its goals for this year. But several big-time farmers interviewed by Reuters are throwing weight behind the policy. "There is a cost," Quagliato said. But when ranchers sit down to talk about it, he added, they simply conclude that "we have to do it." The Quagliato family still faces questions over their own impact on the forest and its people. Brazil's federal environmental protection agency said Quagliato paid all his deforestation fines, except for one which he settled, agreeing to regenerate the forest. One of his family members was recently convicted of submitting workers to slave-like labor conditions, though he is appealing. Quagliato declined to comment on these cases. Tagging each cow in Para isn't simply a tool to guarantee animals aren't eating grass where forests were illegally razed. More than anything, it allows animal health agencies to quickly track any sick cattle and their contacts. Data suggests the market rewards traceable herds. The average price of the beef Brazil exports is 8% lower than Uruguay's, which traces cattle individually, according to 2024 data from the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association. That's partly because Uruguay sells much of its beef to the European Union, which has long worked to rid its supply chains of ties to deforestation and requires individual traceability at least 90 days before cattle are slaughtered. Most big ranchers interviewed by Reuters see cattle tagging as an unavoidable path forward, though some fear Para is moving too fast for farmers to adapt and would like the policy to be watered down. Quagliato declined to say how big his herd is or how many of his cattle he had tagged. Local publications have estimated his herd size to be around 150,000 cattle. Ranchers told Reuters they are waiting to comply until the legal deadline comes closer, because they want to make sure it won't be delayed as many observers expect. Some also complained about technical glitches in the system to register cattle, which the government denies. Still, the project has gained support from both the meat packing industry and environmental groups. São Paulo-based JBS, the world's biggest meat packer, has donated 300,000 tags to the program so far. "I'm optimistic," said Marina Guyot, a policy manager at Imaflora, a nonprofit that received a grant from Bezos to help implement the policy. "At the moment, we have political will, which is more than half the way there." 'IT SCARES US' Alaion Lacerda's 50-strong cattle herd at the heart of Para state munch on grass alongside cocoa growing beneath the shade of native trees he planted. He is one of thousands of small producers at the bottom of Brazil's supply chain, providing young calves that bigger ranchers will fatten and sell to slaughterhouses. But, like about half the cattle in Para, his herd is grazing in areas where the rainforest was illegally razed, and he now wonders if the new law will make it harder for him to sell his cattle. "It scares us," he said, sitting on his porch. "We live in a region where almost all producers have a liability." Every day satellites collect visual data on deforestation that the government and meat packers use to mark farms where forests were illegally razed. But tagging will allow officials to geo-locate cattle with a swiping device. The tool could make it harder for farmers to say cattle that were reared in illegally deforested areas came from legal farms, said Ricardo Negrini, a federal prosecutor who monitors links to deforestation in the beef supply. But the program, he added, "still falls short in terms of environmental standards," partly because the tags only geolocate animals at specific moments, allowing ample time for bad-faith producers to move cattle without being noticed. "Whatever you want to control, you can't catch everything," said Raul Protazio Romao, the head of Para's environmental department. "You have to progressively implement control mechanisms that constantly evolve and close gaps." Lincoln Bueno, a big rancher whose family also controls beef exporter Mercurio, said he is not yet tracing his cattle because he fears he may be punished for buying from small suppliers who have illegally deforested plots in their land. "I can only do what I am able to comply with," he said. Convincing ranchers like Bueno and Lacerda to tag their cattle is Para's biggest challenge. It's why the government now allows farmers who have illegally cleared forest on their ranches in the past to clear their records by committing to allowing the forest to grow back. On a recent morning, agricultural analysts from a nonprofit called Solidaridad, visited several small ranchers who they hoped would enter the program. Some were open to the idea that cleaning up their records would have benefits. Others, like Lacerda, were more skeptical. "For me to reforest, isolate the area so I can be legal, I'm going to have to reduce the number of animals," he said. But that, he added, "will affect my income."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store