While reporting its earnings for the first half of 2020, Accor said Tuesday it plans to save €200 million (US$235 million) by the end of 2022, likely by cutting close to 1,000 jobs at the corporate level. CEO Sebastien Bazin said workers in that group with salaries below €50,000 (US$59,000) would remain on the Accor payroll for at least two years while undergoing new training.
“Having taken these emergency steps, we must now finish the job from an asset-light model to a full asset-light company,” Bazin said in a press release. “Beyond COVID-19, this is essential. Accor must become simpler, leaner, more agile and even closer to the field.”
Revenues for the six months were off 52% at €917 million (US$1.1 billion), while Accor posted a net loss of €1.5 billion (US$1.8 billion) compared with a profit of €141 million (US$166 million) during the same period last year. Accor said 81% of its hotels have reopened and that business is gradually ramping up again. It also added 12,000 rooms in the first half of 2020, reaching 5,100 hotels and 748,000 rooms.
Accor also confirmed it was close to a deal to take over about 100 Travelodge hotels as a result of an ongoing dispute over rent payments at the U.K.-based group. Accor would take a 10% stake in a new special purpose vehicle that would be majority owned by the Travelodge landlords. The vehicle, to be named Ago, would issue new 25-year leases to the hotel owners who would pay franchise fees to Accor for use of its Ibis brand.