Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT) shares edged higher in pre-market trade after its fourth-quarter earnings beat both profit and revenue expectations.
In a statement, the company said during the quarter, net income came in at US$840mln or US$2.61 a share.
Revenue up 24%
Excluding the impact of the new tax benefits and one-time items, the company earned 54 US cents a share, comfortably beating market consensus for an adjusted earnings of 45 US cents a share.
In the quarter, revenue shot up by 24% to US$2.3bn, beating market expectations for US$2.2bn.
The results included a US$665mln provisional tax benefit following the recent implemented US tax reforms.
For the full year 2018, the company is now guiding net income at between US$802mln and US$837mln.
Largest number of rooms under construction in industry
In the fourth quarter, the hotel chain added 18,400 net rooms, up 6.5% over the full year.
In the first quarter 2018, the company said system-wide RevPar is expected to rise between 1.0% and 3.0% on a comparable and currency neutral basis, year-on-year.
It is also expecting net income in the current quarter to be between US$138mln and US$152mln.
In premarket trade, its shares were up 2.15% at US$85.00.
President and Chief Executive Christopher Nassetta said in a statement that the hotel chain has the largest number of rooms under construction in the industry.
"We feel great about our set up for 2018 and our ability to continue delivering record-setting results."