Hilton Hotels Profit Rises 73 Percent

Hilton Hotels Corp. reported on Tuesday a quarterly profit jumped of 73 percent due to recovery in business travel fueled higher room rates and management fees.

Hilton, the third-largest upscale U.S. hotel chain, said the trend toward stronger profit margins will lift 2005 earnings about 10 percent more than it had expected, reports Reuters.

“We are in the up part of the classic hotel cycle … it is a pattern that drives rates higher,” Hilton Chief Executive Stephen Bollenbach said on a conference call.

“Strength in group (bookings) is displacing lower-rate leisure travel,” said Matthew Hart, the company’s chief operating officer. The trend will boost both room rates and food and beverage business, he said.

Hilton, based in Beverly Hills, California, said it sees total 2005 revenue at $4.510 billion to $4.535 billion.