Hilton Worldwide Q4 Adj. EPS Surges, Yet Misses Estimates- Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT) Wednesday reported a six fold growth in fourth quarter net profit attributable to the stockholders of $159 million, compared to $26 million last year. Earnings per share surged to $0.16 from $0.03 a year ago. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $0.17, compared to $0.11 last year.

On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.18 per share. Analysts estimates usually exclude special items.

Revenue for the quarter climbed to $2.828 billion from $2.643 billion in the prior year. System-wide comparable RevPAR increased 6.6 percent for the fourth quarter on a currency neutral basis.

Christopher Nassetta, president and chief executive officer of Hilton Worldwide said, "Looking ahead, we are optimistic that 2015 will bring continued strong performance and growth, with global RevPAR expected to increase 5 to 7 percent. Given our expanding development pipeline, we expect net unit growth in managed and franchised rooms of 6 to 7 percent."

For the first quarter of 2015, the company expects adjusted earnings per share to be between $0.10 and $0.12 and adjusted EBITDA between $555 million and $575 million. Analysts were looking for $0.15 per share. System-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 5.0 percent and 7.0 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis.

For the full year 2015, the Hilton expects adjusted earnings per share to be between $0.78 and $0.83 and adjusted EBITDA between $2,790 million and $2,870 million. System-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 5.0 percent and 7.0 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis