2003 was an exceptional year for the tourism industry, which was heavily impacted by geopolitical events, the SARS epidemic, and the decline in the dollar and Latin American currencies. The fourth quarter saw encouraging signs of a recovery, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. In this environment, Accor�s consolidated revenues for 2003 declined by a reported 4.3%. Excluding the currency effect, revenues were up 1.1% for the year and 2.9% in the fourth quarter alone. Business expansion accounted for 3.4% of revenue growth, while asset disposals reduced it by 2.4%. In all, like-for-like revenues were stable (up 0.1%), highlighting once again the balanced nature of Accor�s business portfolio.

Hotels

Hotel revenues at December 31, 2003 were down 0.7% like-for-like. The 3.3% reported decline was due to a negative 5.5% currency effect, while the contribution from newly opened hotels added 3.8%. For the year, like-for-like revenues in the Upscale and Midscale segments were down 0.6%, while Economy hotel revenues rose 0.6% in Europe and contracted 2.4% in the United States. The fourth quarter confirmed the improvement noted in the third quarter. Business expansion was pursued throughout the year with the opening of 170 new hotels totaling 22,000 rooms.

Services

Like-for-like revenues from Services were up 8.4% for the year and 7.7% in the fourth quarter. The decline in Latin American currencies caused reported revenues to decline by 2.3%. Including acquisitions, revenues were up 10.6% excluding the currency effect.

Other businesses

Revenues from other Group businesses (travel agencies, casinos, restaurants and onboard train services) contracted by a reported 8.3% during the year, but rose 0.3% like-for-like.

Full-year earnings objective maintained

As expected, the third-quarter improvement continued through the fourth quarter. Accor is maintaining its full-year objective of EUR 500 million in profit before tax.
 
 

(1) Subsidiaries and managed

With 150,000 associates in 140 countries, Accor is the European leader and one of the world's largest groups in travel, tourism and corporate services, with two major international activities:

• hotels: nearly 4,000 hotels (more than 450,000 rooms) in 90 countries, casinos, travel agencies, and restaurants;
• services to corporate clients and public institutions: 13 million people in 32 countries use a broad range of services (food vouchers, people care and services, incentive, loyalty programs, events) engineered and managed by Accor.