By Dimitri Rhodes and Jerome Terroy
Feb 19 (Reuters) – French hotel group Accor reported an annual core profit just above market expectations on Thursday, supported by the diversification of its hotel portfolio and the expansion of its loyalty programme.
The group said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were 1.20 billion euros ($1.41 billion) last year, compared with 1.12 billion euros in 2024 and a company-compiled analyst consensus of 1.19 billion euros.
“In 2026, we will focus on … the growth of our network and strengthening partnerships within our (loyalty programme), adapting our business model with more franchise agreements in mature markets, and finalising the sale of our stake in Essendi,” finance chief Martine Gerow said during a press call.
Accor had said in December it would divest its 30.6% stake in Essendi, formerly AccorInvest. It plans to use the proceeds to fund a 450-million-euro share buyback programme in 2026.
The operator of brands including Ibis and Novotel said its revenue per available room (RevPAR), one of the industry’s main performance indicators, rose 4.2% to 76 euros in 2025.
“The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into our digital roadmap and the robustness of our pipeline allow us to accelerate our development and be even more efficient,” Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin said in a statement.
The company launched in February an AI-powered, ChatGPT‑based direct booking tool, pitched as a way to reduce the group’s dependence on online travel agencies and cut distribution costs.
In December, France and India agreed to halve dividend withholding taxes on payments from Indian subsidiaries to French parent companies, which could have implications for large French portfolio investors and companies like Accor, Pernod Ricard or L’Oreal.
“Today, India represents roughly 70 hotels and slightly less than 1% of our business volume, so it remains a nascent market,” Gerow said, however.
(Reporting by Dimitri Rhodes and Jerome Terroy in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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