Accor estimates profits last year better than aimed for

By Dominique Vidalon PARIS (Reuters) - Accor, Europe's largest hotel group, said on Tuesday that it estimated its operating profit last year was above target after robust demand in Europe and emerging markets gave a boost to revenue growth in the fourth quarter. The world's fourth-largest hotel group said the Paris Motor Show and other trade fairs helped drive demand in its core French market, where Accor makes 35 percent of its sales. However, Chief Financial Officer Sophie Stabile told reporters that Accor remained "cautious" for its home market in 2015 in view of the constrained economic climate and after the deadly attacks in Paris by Islamist militants this month. "We have not seen massive cancellations at Paris hotels (following the attacks) and since the start of the year our revenue in France is growing but we remain watchful of any development," she said. Accor with 3,700 hotels ranging from the luxury Sofitel to the budget Ibis chains, said revenue in the fourth quarter amounted to 1.403 billion euros ($1.62 billion), a like-for-like rise of 5.1 percent, that compared with 4.6 percent rise in the third quarter. Accor said it now estimates its operating profit last year was 600 million euros, ahead of its previous forecast of earnings before interest and tax of 575 million to 595 million. Accor, which competes with InterContinental, Marriott and Starwood, is undergoing a reorganisation initiated by Chief Escecutive Sebastien Bazin, but has been hit by a variety of problems in its home market, including a rise in Value-Added Tax. Revenue in France rose 2.5 percent on a like-for-like basis in the quarter, accelerating from 0.6 percent growth in the third quarter, with its closely watched RevPar (revenue per available room) rising 3.3 percent in the quarter. Southern Europe also put in a robust performance while booking cancellations related to fears over the Ebola epidemic in Africa levelled off, Stabile said. China, where economic growth is slowing, remained a soft spot, but Accor in December unveiled a strategic alliance with China Lodging Group to speed up its expansion in the region. Accor's shares have gained 5.5 percent this year, outperforming a 2 percent rise in the Stoxx Europe 600 travel and leisure sector index, after gains of 9 percent in 2014. ($1=0.8648 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by James Regan, Greg Mahlich)