STR: U.S. hotel profits fell 101.7% in March

U.S. hotel gross operating profit per available room fell 101.7% during March 2020, according to the first-ever monthly P&L data release from STR.

In a year-over-year comparison with March 2019, the industry posted the following:

• GOPPAR: -101.7% to US$-2.10
• TRevPAR: -64.0% to US$104.93
• EBIDTA PAR: -116.8% to US$-15.44
• LPAR (Total Labor Costs): -31.2% to US$66.16

“Our first U.S. monthly P&L release really could not have been timelier, given the unprecedented crisis the industry is facing amid the coronavirus pandemic,” said Joseph Rael, STR’s senior director of financial performance. “As reported via our traditional metrics, occupancy, room rates and RevPAR have plummeted at alarming rates with the virtual standstill of business, travel and leisure activity. As expected, this profitability data is very much aligned with the developing trend in RevPAR.

“Just a few months ago, we were talking about 2020 being a challenging year for profitability given flattening occupancy levels and a lack of hotelier pricing power. Now we’re at a point where thousands of properties have closed around the country due to their inability to operate at any level of profitability.”

Among top markets, New York reported the steepest GOPPAR decline (-203.0%), followed by Chicago (-201.4%) and Seattle (-158.0%).

At a class level, upper-upscale properties saw the worst decrease in GOPPAR (-108.1%).

“We’ve partnered with the industry for more than three decades, and this next-generation solution from STR is going to arm hoteliers with an added benchmarking tool for this unprecedented period, as well as for when performance recovery ramps up,” Rael said. “With the world’s largest hotel performance database, we are uniquely positioned to scale this product globally across the industry. Our STAR reports have set an industry standard for the key performance metrics, now we’re working to provide hoteliers with a STAR report for their entire P&L.”

Industry stakeholders interested in Monthly P&L participation should contact MonthlyPnL@STR.com. Those interested in subscribing to soon-to-be released reports should contact their account manager or info@STR.com.