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While Rezidor is still suffering from the impact of terrorism, its outlook is likely to improve if and when it is taken over by Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, which would undoubtedly help it capture a bigger slice of the tourism market.
The lasting impact of terrorist attacks in France and Belgium is continuing to hamper the performance of Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel Group.
Chief Executive Wolfgang Neumann said that external factors, which also included lower oil prices, were still hurting the company.
Neumann’s comments came as Rezidor released its full year results for 2016. Profit for the period fell by 22.8 percent to $28.1 million (€26.4 million). Revenue also declined and was down by 3.6 percent to $1 billion (€961.2 million).
Although RevPar (which stands for revenue per available room and is the industry’s favored metric for analyzing performance) rose across Europe (+2.1 percent), it fell substantially in both Belgium (-12.7 percent) and France (-10.2 percent) during 2016, according to data from STR Global.
Both of these countries have been on the receiving end of terrorist attacks in the past 18 months, which have helped to deter tourists from visiting key cities.
Rezidor’ strongest regional performer in the final quarter of its financial year was its Nordics division. Of its four regional units, only the Middle East and Africa was below last year. Like parts of this area suffered in 2016, mainly due to political turmoil and the low oil price.
Carlson Hotels and HNA
Rezidor is currently assessing a $325 million takeover proposal from Chinese conglomerate HNA Group. The deal is tied up with HNA’s acquisition of Rezidor’s majority shareholder, Carlson Hotels.
Rezidor’s board will issue an opinion on the offer on February 24. Should they accept, it will likely lead to a further shake-up in the European hotel industry. Rezidor may eventually be combined with Madrid-based NH Hotel Group, which HNA owns around 30 percent of.
“[HNA’s] clear ambition is to build a leading world-class tourism provider. We do see such an integrated approach as a significantly compelling advantage for the future and see the opportunity to capture the growing outbound tourism opportunity from China with HNA’s ownership,” Neumann said.
“So we welcome HNA as our majority shareholder and look forward to continuing our growth journey together…”
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Tags: carlson hotels, earnings, hna group, rezidor hotel group
Photo credit: The Damman Park Inn by Radisson. Parent company Rezidor Hotel Group is evaluating a takeover offer from major shareholder HNA Group. Soren Dam Thomsen / Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group