Asia-Pacific hotels may have reached their bottom. And that’s a good thing.
Gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) in May showed its first month-over-month (MOM) since December 2019, up 78.2% MOM jump, and at -$3.04 is making strides towards breaking-even after turning negative in March.
Occupancy in May was up 7.4 percentage points compared to April to 26.6%. Though this is still 43.6 percentage points below May 2019 numbers, it’s the first time since February that occupancy placed above 25% in the region. This rise in volume drove the 39.5% MOM surge in RevPAR. Further contributing to the top-line, F&B revenue per available room was up by 89.8% MOM, resulting in a much needed 48.1% MOM expansion of TRevPAR
The 52% flex recorded in May is evidence of the effective cost control measures implemented in the region. (Flex is the amount of profit that is saved when there is a revenue shortfall.) Despite top-line growth, hoteliers in APAC were able to avoid cost creep and managed to reduce labor costs and overheads by 6.7% and 1.3%, respectively and on a MOM basis. As a result, profit conversion in May was recorded at -7.5% of total revenue, placing 43.4 percentage points above the previous month.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators – APAC (in USD)
| KPI | May 2020 v. May 2019 | YTD 2020 v. YTD 2019 |
| RevPAR | -75.1% to $22.55 | -60.6% to $37.49 |
| TRevPAR | -74.2% to $40.51 | -58.8% to $67.16 |
| Payroll PAR | -51.0% to $22.38 | -32.2% to $32.03 |
| GOPPAR | -105.8% to -$3.04 | -94.0% to $3.37 |
Although still on the negative side of the number line, profit-per-room in Jakarta showed the first signs of recovery in May, as GOPPAR grew by 10.4% on a MOM basis, the first positive change in the city since March.
May occupancy was up by 2.3 percentage points compared to April, albeit remaining below the two-digit threshold. A 25.1% MOM decline in average rate dampened the effect of this volume increase over RevPAR, which still managed to climb by 1.6% compared to the previous month. TRevPAR jumped by 15.2% MOM, fueled by a 100% increase in F&B revenue per available room.
On the expense side, hoteliers managed to decrease total overheads by 10.6% MOM, though labor costs recorded a monthly uptick of 2.7%. Flex for the city placed at 54%, and profit conversion of total revenue was recorded at -204.0%, far from ideal, but still 58.2 percentage points higher than April.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators – Jakarta (in USD)
| KPI | May 2020 v. May 2019 | YTD 2020 v. YTD 2019 |
| RevPAR | -88.9% to $6.24 | -50.5% to $32.85 |
| TRevPAR | -90.3% to $11.01 | -46.2% to $67.83 |
| Payroll PAR | -46.1% to $21.16 | -22.1% to $30.85 |
| GOPPAR | -190.4% to -$22.46 | -88.1% to $4.08 |
The Labor Day holiday (May 1-5) resulted in more than 104 million domestic tourist trips in China, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In Shanghai, this heightened activity translated into positive per-room profits for the first time since turning negative in February. GOPPAR in the city surged by 182.4% in May compared to April to $8.35.
Occupancy in Shanghai recorded its third consecutive MOM increase in May to 35.3%, a 12.3-percentage-point improvement from April. This volume expansion, combined with a 7.0% MOM average rate climb, resulted in a 64.6% MOM RevPAR increase. F&B revenue per available room soared by 179.5% MOM, leading to 84.1% growth in TRevPAR compared to the previous month.
Amid top-line growth, hoteliers in Shanghai achieved a 2.4% MOM reduction in labor costs and a 5.6% MOM uptick in total overheads. Flex placed at 44.1% and profit conversion in May was recorded at 14.9% of total revenue, 48.1 percentage points above April results.
Profit & Loss Performance Indicators – Shanghai Municipality (in USD)
| KPI | May 2020 v. May 2019 | YTD 2020 v. YTD 2019 |
| RevPAR | -67.8% to $32.87 | -72.0% to $25.83 |
| TRevPAR | -66.4% to $56.21 | -69.4% to $47.17 |
| Payroll PAR | -44.6% to $24.23 | -31.5% to $30.32 |
| GOPPAR | -88.1% to $8.35 | -111.3% to –$6.54 |
