Starwood Q1 profit jumps on improving RevPA

Revenue rose 5% to $1.19 billion as worldwide system-wide revenue per available room - a key industry metric known as RevPAR—rose 6.3%.

“Lodging demand for our nine global brands accelerated as we moved through the first quarter, allowing us to beat expectations on robust top-line growth,” said Frits van Paasschen, chief executive, in the earnings report. “We continued to hold the line on costs. Most encouraging for us was that occupancy gains were led by the luxury market.”

RevPAR was up in the company’s North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions while it slipped slightly in Latin America and Africa/Middle East.

The company expects full year 2010 RevPAR could be up 5% to 8% assuming consistent currency rates and is looking for earnings per share before items of 88 cents.