Hilton revenue beats estimate as occupancy increases

The increase in travel due to the strengthening U.S. economy has resulted in tight supply of hotel rooms. Hilton gets about three-quarters of its revenue from the United States.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 6.8 percent at U.S. hotels open for at least a year in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Hilton said.

Worldwide comparable RevPAR rose 6.6 percent. RevPAR, a metric of hotel health, is calculated by multiplying a hotel's average daily room rate by its occupancy rate.

Revenue rose to $2.83 billion from $2.64 billion a year earlier.

Net income attributable to shareholders rose to $158 million, or 16 cents per share, from $26 million, or 3 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, Hilton earned 17 cents per share.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $2.72 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Hilton's fourth-quarter 2013 profit was adjusted for $306 million of pre-tax general, administrative and other expense, and $23 million of pre-tax interest expense, offset by a pre-tax gain on debt extinguishment of $229 million and an $87 million income tax benefit.

The company said it expects an adjusted profit of 10-12 cents per share for the first quarter. Analysts were expecting a profit of 15 cents per share.

Rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc , owner of the Sheraton and Westin brands, which has nearly half its properties outside North America, blamed a strong dollar for its lower-than-expected full-year profit forecast of $2.87-$2.97 per share.

Hilton's shares had risen about 10 percent this year up to Tuesday's close of $28.65 on the New York Stock Exchange, outperforming an about 1 percent rise in the Dow Jones U.S. Travel & Leisure Index .

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)