Hyatt earnings double as hotels helped by increasing confidence

Hyatt Hotels Corp., the chain controlled by the Pritzker family, said first-quarter profit doubled as increasing consumer confidence led to rising room demand from travelers.

Net income climbed to $10 million, or 6 cents a share, from $5 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier, the Chicago-based company said today in a statement. The hotelier was expected to earn 5 cents, the average estimate of nine analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Hotels are being helped by an increase in room bookings as travelers start to feel better about the economy. Confidence among U.S. consumers climbed in April from the lowest level in more than a year as job growth helped Americans withstand rising fuel costs, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment.

Hyatt's revenue rose to $875 million from $841 million a year earlier. Revenue per available room, or revpar, for hotels owned or leased for at least a year climbed 8.1 percent at full- service hotels in North America and 11 percent overseas.