Marriott International Dives on Q2 Earnings Results

Shares of Marriott International MAR are moving lower in the after-hours following the release of the company's Q2 earnings results. Currently, shares are lower by 3.07%, trading at $36.00; they ended the regular session higher by 0.87%, trading at $37.14. Marriott International reported Q2 EPS of $0.37 on revenues of $2.97 billion. Worldwide comparable systemwide REVPAR rose 7.7%, while average daily rate rose 4.5%. At the end of the second quarter, the company's worldwide pipeline of hotels under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development grew to more than 100,000 rooms, including nearly 44,000 rooms outside North America. J.W. Marriott, Jr., Marriott International chairman and chief executive officer, said, "Around the world, we've never been more excited about our opportunities. Now in 71 countries, the Marriott International brand portfolio, already the broadest in the industry, is growing rapidly. We expect to add over 200 hotels to our system in 2011, leveraging the hospitality and local know-how of our associates with our global size, systems, and guest loyalty programs.” “Emerging markets provide especially attractive opportunities. In the past five years, we have increased our hotel distribution in Brazil, Russia, India and China at a 12 percent compound annual growth rate while tripling our development pipeline in those markets. Marriott International, Inc. is a global operator and franchisor of hotels and related lodging facilities. The company develops, operates, and franchises hotels and corporate housing properties under separate brand names, and it develops, operates, and market timeshares, fractional ownerships, and residential properties under four separate brand names.