NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Escalating political turmoil and violence in the Middle East is blemishing a robust lodging recovery in global markets for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT).
The company, which swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, said the Middle East and Africa were the only regions that haven't fully recovered from one of the worst brutal downturns in the hotel industry.
"The political turmoil in North Africa, especially Egypt, is of course hurting our business," said Vasant Prabhu, vice chairman and chief financial officer of the hotelier during a post-earnings conference call Thursday. He noted Starwood has 16 hotels across North Africa that generated between $10 million to $12 million in fees last year.
"We expect that our fees will be hit in North Africa," he added. "It is too early to tell how we will be impacted, but this is clearly a risk that needs to be closely monitored."
Starwood's revenue per available room, a key profit metric for hotels, was up more than 10% in the fourth quarter of 2010 over the same time period in 2009, the company reported. It was up 9.4% for the year, following a decline of 20.7% in 2009.
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