French hotel giant Accor saw third quarter revenue edge up by 1.3% to €1,485 million.
This enabled the group to maintain its year-end forecast of €510 million-€530 million in EBITDA (a measure of profitability before tax and other costs).
Accor described business levels in the third quarter as “solid”.
Hotels in the UK, where the group has a large presence in London, “benefited highly” from the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with 100% occupancy rates during the former.
But this performance was partially offset by the closure before and after the Games of several major convention centres, notably the ExCeL international exhibition centre in London Docklands.
Third quarter like-for-like revenue growth stood at 4.9% in the group’s upscale and midscale segment in the UK and 6% in the economy area.
Business outside Europe remained robust with demand still growing very quickly in all of the region’s leading markets except China, Accor said.
Strong growth in demand in Brazil, at a time when the hotel supply remained stable, drove a sharp increase in average room rates.
Germany was the best performing European country while conditions continued to worsen in southern Europe.
“In an economic environment which is difficult in Europe and still robust in Asia Pacific and Latin America, Accor continued to expand and remains reasonably optimistic about the end of the year,” the company said.
“At the same time, the group is pursuing a sustained development strategy, opening 26,400 rooms during the first nine months of the year, of which over 5,600 in the third quarter, as well as the transformation of its business model.”