Hotel chain Melia sees higher summer demand after profits soar

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish hotel group Melia reported on Wednesday a 72% surge in first-half net profit that beat market expectations, partly due to the rise in international tourists flocking to its home country, the world's second-most visited after France.

Spain's biggest hotel chain, which operates in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, booked a profit of 88.5 million euros ($102 million) as its revenues reached 991 million euros, up 3% from the same period a year ago.

Analysts on average expected a net profit of 46 million euros and revenues worth 986 million euros, an LSEG survey showed.

More international tourists were visiting Spain than last year, by the end of which the country welcomed a record 94 million guests.

This helped boost resort revenues, even when the industry expects overall sales to slow this summer.

Melia said bookings at its resorts for July and August were 5% higher than last year and it expects peak summer season sales to exceed previous figures for the fourth year in a row.

The Mallorca-based company focused on luxury accommodation said its revenues per room rose 6% in the second quarter and by an average of 4.7% during the first half of the year, while strong demand in Spain allowed its local hotels to exceed that average.

International holidaymakers have more spending power than Spaniards, who are scrapping visits to Spain's top 25 beach destinations due to rising hotel and rental prices amid an unprecedented tourism boom.

In other countries such as Germany, the U.S. and China, Melia saw lower revenue growth per room than it reported in Spain, but the company kept its forecast of a single-digit increase in revenue per room in 2025.

Melia expects to invest around 350 million euros with partners to add more than 30 hotels to its portfolio by 2026. At least 15 of them will be opening this year, mainly at Mediterranean destinations.

($1 = 0.8688 euros)

(Reporting by Corina Pons; Editing by David Latona and Andrei Khalip)