Starwood Posts Q4 Loss but Ends Year with $73 Million Profit

Starwood Hotels & Resorts lost $107 million in the last quarter of 2009 but ended what is considered one of the worst years in industry history with a profit.

Starwood reported earnings of $73 million for the year, down 77.8 percent from 2008, but said that it is looking forward to a turnaround in 2010. The fourth-quarter loss included a $362 million writedown for canceled timeshare projects.

RevPAR was down 7.2 percent globally for the quarter, with the biggest declines in the company’s lower tier brand, Four Points by Sheraton, and its art-focused Le Merdien brand, which saw declines of 8.8 percent and 8.9 percent respectively.

W Hotels performed the best, with RevPAR down 2.3 percent. The company’s St. Regis and Luxury Collection brands posted RevPAR declines of 4.4 percent, and Westin and Sheraton had drops of 7.2 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

Total revenue for the quarter was $1.2 billion, down 1.2 percent from the same period in 2008. For the year, Starwood reported revenue of $4.7 billion, down 17.3 percent from 2008.