Hotel group Accor beats first quarter revenue expectations

(Reuters) -Accor, Europe’s biggest hotel group by portfolio, reported a larger-than-expected rise in first-quarter revenue on Thursday, citing sustained global demand in the hospitality sector supported by its geographical diversification.

The operator of brands including Ibis and Novotel said revenue in the three months to March 31 reached 1.35 billion euros ($1.53 billion), up from 1.24 billion euros a year earlier and above the 1.31 billion euros forecast by analysts polled by the company.

"Our diversified geographic positioning and leadership in the most promising markets... enable us to continue to grow in a more volatile geopolitical and economic environment," Accor Chairman and CEO Sebastien Bazin said in a statement.

Accor's revenue per available room (RevPAR), one of the industry's main performance indicators, rose 5% to 69 euros in the quarter.

The increase across segments was driven mainly by prices and supported by occupancy rates, the group said.

Revenue in the luxury division, Accor's fastest-growing, rose 17.9% year-on-year in the first quarter, outperforming the hotel operator's Premium, Midscale & Economy segment.

Sales in France, which account for 44% of the group's room revenue in the Europe and North Africa region, declined slightly due to weak performance in March.

Accor, which opened 45 hotels in the quarter, also confirmed its mid-term forecast, which includes RevPar annual growth of 3% to 4%.

($1 = 0.8799 euros)

(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega and Dimitri Rhodes; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Gareth Jones)