Marriott International on Thursday reported a US$128 million operating loss in Q4 2020 fourth, compared to Q4 2019 operating income of US$274 million. It also reported a US$164 million net loss in Q4 2020, compared to Q4 2019 net income of US$279 million. Reported diluted loss per share totaled US$0.50 in the quarter, compared to reported diluted EPS of $0.85 in the year-ago quarter.
Marriott also forecast 6% unit growth for 2021. In 2020, Marriott achieved 3.1% net unit growth, and approximately 13% of openings were conversion rooms.
Baird Equity Research’s Michael Bellisario wrote that Marriott’s fourth-quarter results contained no major surprises and are likely to be viewed as in line with expectations, adding that higher gross fees, lower SG&A and higher gains offset underperformance in the owned/leased lines.
Adjusted operating income in Q4 2020 totaled US$148 million, compared to US$717 million a year ago. Adjusted operating income in Q4 2020 and Q4 2019 excluded impairment charges of US$44 million and US$114 million, respectively.
Fourth quarter 2020 adjusted net income totaled US$39 million, compared to US$498 million in 2019. Adjusted diluted EPS in the 2020 fourth quarter totaled US$0.12, compared to US$1.51 in the year-ago quarter.
Bellisario added that the focus is likely to be on Marriott’s expectation for 6% gross rooms growth in 2021 (deletions will have an outsized impact though) and the conversion momentum embedded in this forecast.
He said 2021 is likely to be at a similar or even higher level of unit deletions given the 110 bps growth headwind from the removal of the Service Properties Trust portfolio. “Even so, approximately 4% net unit growth would compare favorably to our 3.1% estimate,” he wrote.