Now hand over to Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you. Welcome everyone on this H1 release. I'm here with Martine Gerow and I'm going to leave the floor very quickly now to Martine and then I'll get back to you for the conclusions and for Q & A, of course. Martine, up to you.
Thank you, Sébastien, and good morning everyone. I'll start with the financials highlights on slide three, and I'm pleased to report that we've delivered another quarter and a semester of solid growth despite multiple headwinds, both from geopolitics but also foreign exchange. Second quarter RevPAR like- for- like remains solid at 4.1% and is driven both by price and occupancy and benefiting from our geographical and segment diversification. In the first half, RevPAR was up 4.6%. NUG on the last 12 month basis reached what was an expected low point for the year at 1.9%. This is mainly reflecting a base effect related to the conversion of the Daiwa portfolio in Japan which took place in second quarter 2024.
Our pipeline, on the other hand, grew at a very healthy rate of 10.7% over the same period, which supports the acceleration of openings and net unit growth which we expect in the second half. Now, the euro has appreciated both rapidly and significantly since the first quarter against pretty much every currency and in particular against the USD and therefore all of the USD pegged currency. Our FX exposure is predominantly in currency which move with the US dollar and as a result of that, the erosion of the dollar has had a negative impact on our reported result as of the second quarter. At constant currency, group revenue increased by 5.1% in the first half and at reported rates, revenue grew by 2.5% reaching EUR 2.745 billion. We translated this solid activity into solid financial results which demonstrates the sound discipline.
Recurring EBITDA is up 13.5% at constant currency, which is above our midterm guidance, and at reported rates, recurring EBITDA is up 9.4% to EUR 552 million in the first half. As you can see, foreign exchange rates had a negative 4 point impact on EBITDA growth in the first half. Recurring free cash flow improved to EUR 136 million. That is a growth of 13.3% versus prior year. Finally, we keep to our shareholder return policy with EUR 503 million of cash returned to shareholders in the first half through dividend as well as the first tranche of our 2025 share buyback program. Now let's turn to the second quarter RevPAR on slide five. I'll start with PM&E. PM&E posted a second quarter RevPAR growth of 2.9%, still largely driven by pricing for about three quarters and occupancy for a quarter.
Occupancy reached 69% in the quarter, which is still below 2019. In Europe, North Africa or ENA, RevPAR growth accelerated from 0.6% in the first quarter to 3.3% in the second quarter, primarily driven by France. Occupancy was the main driver, reaching 73% in the second quarter for the ENA region, which is a two point gain versus prior year. In France, RevPAR was up in the mid single digit, driven by Paris, which was up in the low double digit. Paris benefited from very strong tourism inflow as well as favorable comps in June. You might remember we had a slowdown in 2024 ahead of the Olympics game. The RevPAR in the Provence grew in the low single digits in the second quarter. In the U.K., the low single digit negative momentum for RevPAR remained both in London and the regions, still reflecting a depressed economic environment.
In Germany, RevPAR was down in the mid single digit with unfavorable comps in June, which, as you may recall, hosted the UEFA Football Championship in June of 2024. In the APAC Q2, RevPAR softened to 1.2%, and this is primarily driven by Saudi Arabia, which was negatively impacted by the timing of the Ramadan as well as some strict entry rules for the June Hajj pilgrimage. Now, China negative high single digit RevPAR growth continues to weigh on the region. If you exclude China region, RevPAR is up 3.6% in the second quarter, primarily driven by price. In the Middle East, performance was flat overall but highly contrasted.
UAE was up in the low double digits despite some cancellation due to the tensions in Iran, but Saudi Arabia, as I was just commenting, recorded negative growth for the reasons highlighted previously, timing of Ramadan and strict entry rules for the June Hajj pilgrimage. Turning to Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia was solid despite Thailand being negatively impacted by what was a lower inbound flow from China due to security concerns in Thailand and Indonesia facing economic headwinds due to government budget restrictions, but the other countries in Southeast Asia, mainly Japan, Korea, Vietnam, continue to perform very well.
Pacific RevPAR rebounded in the second quarter with mid single digit growth following what was a soft Q1, which had been impacted by the Alfred Cyclone in Queensland in March, and China, as indicated, saw no improvement in Q2 with still negative high single digit RevPAR growth concentrated in the Eco portfolio, which, as you might recall, is the vast majority of our portfolio in China. Turning to Americas, Americas continues to post solid, very solid growth with Q2 RevPAR up 9.1% versus prior year, driven by Brazil, which had solid pricing as well as solid corporate demand. Turning to luxury and lifestyle, RevPAR growth was 7% in the quarter, equally driven by pricing and occupancy. Occupancy was up 2 percentage points in the period for luxury and lifestyle.
Luxury RevPAR in the second quarter was up 5.3%, driven by both price and occupancy, with very solid momentum across all the brands, and as we noticed in the first quarter, luxury tends to overperform other segments in all geographies. Lifestyle posted an impressive 12% RevPAR growth, driven by both price and occupancy, with a very strong performance again in resorts in Turkey, in Egypt, and UAE. Moving on to slide 6 on Accor network and pipeline by division, and I'll start on the left with PM&E. Net unit growth was 1.5% on the last 12-month basis, an expected low point due to the Q2 2024 base effect, again from the opening of the Daiwa portfolio in Japan. In addition, this year, openings will be more skewed towards the second half, whilst on the other hand, churn was more front-loaded as we shared in our Q1 call.
Overall, we do expect churn and openings for the PM&E division to be in line with prior year on a full-year basis, but again with a significant acceleration of the net unit growth in H2, which is supported by the pipeline, and actually PM&E pipeline reached 184,000 rooms at the end of June, which is up 12% over the last 12 months. It is worth noting that we just signed Accor's largest hotel worldwide in the U.S. with the signing of the 2,800-key Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas, which will be under the Handwritten brand. M&F revenue at EUR 1,200 was stable. Moving to the right, luxury and lifestyle network grew by 4.3% over the last 12 months, still driven by Ennismore, as we shared with you in our first quarter call.
LTM net unit growth for luxury and lifestyle is impacted by the phasing of the churn, which is predominantly in H1, actually Q1, notably in lifestyle, and the postponement of some openings to the second half, including two large Rixos properties in Egypt. Now, it is worth noting the opening of four Fairmont in Q2 2025, as well as some Ennismore openings, Mondrian on the Gold Coast, and The Hoxton in Edinburgh. Luxury and lifestyle pipeline continues to grow at a sustained pace, plus 6.3% on an LTM basis, and it is driven by Ennismore. Overall, the pipeline for luxury and lifestyle is 45% of the existing network. M&F revenue per room EUR 3,900, also stable. Amongst the notable openings planned in the second half we have a Fairmont New York City reopening, Delano Miami South Beach, Mama Shelter in Zurich, and Hoxton in Dublin.
At group level, NUG again reached 1.9% over the last 12 months, which we hold as a low point, and we anticipate a strong acceleration in the second half based on what is a very robust pipeline, and conversions in the first half were 56% of our openings. Now let's move to Slide 7 and the revenue breakdown by segment. As I stated in my introduction, group revenue reached EUR 2.745 billion in the first half. That is up 2.5% on a reported basis versus prior year, and again the reported growth is significantly impacted by FX. Very limited scope effect over the period. On a constant currency basis, revenue was up 5.1%. For premium, scale, and economy, revenue was essentially flat at EUR 1.475 billion, with a similar FX impact as the one for the group.
Management and franchise revenue is down 0.8%. There is a two point negative impact, which we had called out in our earnings call in the first quarter, which is related to the conversion of some of our management contracts to franchise contract, and that is weighing on that line. In addition, of course, FX is also negative for M&F. Revenue services to owner grew at a higher pace than M&F fees, reflecting improvements in both distribution and loyalty. We continue to gain share in our preferred distribution channels, where our revenue intake is higher thanks to stronger loyalty contribution. ALL, which is our loyalty program, is sustaining high single digit growth in its membership base in the first half.
Turning to hotel assets and other, performance is driven by Australia and Brazil and is therefore significantly impacted by the weakening of both the real and the Australian dollar versus the euro, with a negative impact in the mid single digit from FX in hotel assets and others. For luxury and lifestyle, revenue is up 5.6% versus prior year to reach EUR 1.312 billion, a lso impacted by FX, management and franchise revenue was up 0.6%, with difficult comps stemming from the front loading of the branded residence fees in H1 2024, which we had called out in our H1 2024 earnings call. On a full year basis, this has no impact, as we expect full year residence fees to actually be slightly up versus prior year. If you adjust for that phasing, then luxury and lifestyle M&F revenue growth would have been 7.5% at reported rate.
Services to owners revenue, primarily reimbursed cost for luxury and lifestyle, which are slightly down in the first half and largely due to FX. Hotel assets and others, sorry, reflects the very strong performance of Paris Society venues as well as the acquisition of Rikas, which took place in March of 2024. Turning to Slide 8, management and franchise revenue, M&F revenue is essentially flat in H1, reflecting both headwinds but also the two point impact on the conversion from management to franchise in PM&E and the high comp base last year of residential fees in lifestyle. Starting with PM&E, M&F revenue was down 0.8% in the first half. NR reflects low RevPAR growth as well as, again, the contract conversion, which is where the impact is concentrated, is really in this region. MEA, APAC, and Americas are both significantly impacted by FX.
Constant currency growth remains solid in the mid to high single digits in both regions. Luxury and lifestyle M&F revenue growth was 0.6%, again 7.5% if we adjust for the phasing of resident services. Turning to EBITDA on Slide 9, the group's overall EBITDA reached EUR 552 million, again up 9.4% on a reported basis and 13.4% on a constant currency basis. EBITDA growth reflects 4 points of FX headwinds and phasing effects, namely residential fees and marketing spend. Adjusting for phasing, both in marketing and residential fees, which we expect again to be broadly neutral on a full year basis and affects, the underlying performance of EBITDA in the first half would be 8%, which is a very solid performance. As for M&F, EBITDA growth is constrained by the lack of top line growth for the reasons shared previously.
Overall margin is flat as PM&E M&F margin improvement is offset by the high comp base, again, of residential fees. As for STO, the significant growth in services to owners reflects the structural improvement in distribution and loyalty EBITDA and a phasing of marketing costs, which is skewed towards H2 in 2025. Last year, we had a larger portion of our spend in H1 ahead of the Olympics. Now, again, the phasing effect is neutral on a full year basis as we expect full year STO EBITDA to be in line to slightly above prior year. As for hotel assets, the growth from Rikas and Paris Society is partially offset by PM&E. Now, regarding premium, midscale, and economy, EBITDA is up by 6.7% to EUR 385 million at reported rates.
As for M&F, slight EBITDA growth is reflecting a one point improvement in M&F margin which is in line with our midterm perspective. As for STO, EBITDA was positive for the reasons mentioned previously with favorable marketing phasing more benefiting PM&E. As for hotel assets and other, EBITDA is impacted by the tropical storm in the first quarter and the disposal of Accor Vacation Club in March of last year. Regarding luxury and lifestyle, EBITDA is up a solid 14.3% to $224 million at reported rates. As for M&F, EBITDA is down 2.4% again mainly due to the comps in residential fees, again neutral on a full year basis. As for STO, EBITDA is slightly ahead of prior year and as for hotel assets and others, EBITDA mainly reflect the growth of both Rikas and Paris Society.
Moving on to slide 10, we achieved a net profit of EUR 233 million in the first half which compares to EUR 253 million in the first half of last year. If we adjust for Essendi, Essendi is the new name of AccorInvest. Adjusting for Essendi contribution which had benefited, and you may recall from gains on asset sale in the first half of 2024, net profit would be up by 19% in the first half. Now let me call out the main highlights. Other income and expenses as well as D&A are essentially flat to prior year. Share of net profit loss of equity investment was negative $19 million. This line is mainly driven by Essendi. Our stake in Essendi, and as I was commenting earlier, our stake, this line saw profit in the first half from capital gains resulting from the asset disposals of Essendi.
Net financial expense, two-thirds of the increase that you see here is actually non-cash and is driven by the variation in non-cash FX gains and losses. This year we recorded a small loss versus a gain last year. Cost of debt is actually stable in the first half of 2025 versus prior year same period. Income tax expense is down from prior mainly from baseline effect. We recognized in first half of 2024 a tax expense related to the reorganization of the group. Turning to cash flow on slide 11, the recurring free cash flow improved to EUR 136 million which is a 13% growth versus prior year with a slight improvement in cash conversion ratio from 24% to 25%. Really four main highlights that I will call out. Cash interest slightly decreased. It's really mostly from favorable timing.
Cash tax increased from EUR 105 million to EUR 121 million this year and that is due to higher taxable profits in foreign jurisdictions where we have net operating losses which essentially have been extinguished. Recurring investment increased from EUR 90 million to EUR 120 million and that is completely aligned with the strategy and the guidance we communicated during our CMD which is to bring over time our recurring investments up to EUR 300 million and that is to support the network growth in luxury and lifestyles which tend to call for higher Q1 E than PM&E. The working capital improvement from prior year reflects the continued improvement and control of our cash collection and I do remind you that our working capital change is seasonal in nature and therefore negative in the first half and positive in the second half.
Finally, net debt reaches EUR 3.094 billion at the end of June 2024. As a reminder, net debt was EUR 2.5 billion at the end of December last year. The main movements in the first half are really the recurring free cash flow, the return to shareholders and the reimbursement of the outstanding hybrid which was refinanced in the second half of last year. Finally, let me now introduce our guidance for 2025 on page 12. RevPAR like-for-like growth is expected in line with our midterm guidance between 3%-4%. It reflects the solid start of the year, but also in the second half the negative comp base of the Olympics which will impact the third quarter, which as you may recall we expect to be our weakest quarter. Net unit growth is expected at around 3.5%. That is a robust acceleration versus the first half.
Given the high volatility of FX, we have decided to provide a recurring EBITDA growth guidance at constant currency which is expected between 9%-10% in line with CMD perspective. Assuming the forecast by Bloomberg for the second half, which has a U.S. dollar at $1.17 against the euro, our reported full year 2025 EBITDA growth would be negatively impacted by about 5 points or EUR 60 million, which implies a stronger FX headwind in the second half, given again where the dollar closed second quarter. This concludes my opening remarks and I will now turn the floor over to Sébastien for closing remarks.
Merci beaucoup, Martine. On the last two slides, two or three takeaways for the first semester of 2025. What is important for me and obviously for you is validation of the robustness of the business model. The transformation done, the segmentation in between PM&E on one side, luxury lifestyle on the other side. Through ownership of all the CEOs of both divisions, they are performing well. They are basically doing maximum on confirming operating leverage between revenues to EBITDA and of course a successful model when it comes to diversification of geographies and trying to get the growth wherever it exists on this planet. Because of the segmentation, because of the management ownership and thanks to the diversification geography, we have shown solid result for H1 despite a EUR 21 million cost of currency impact.
The third element, which we talked a little bit about, but you are going to be hearing us talking much more about it, is the loyalty program, which is stronger and stronger every trimester passing since we have launched four years ago. We passed the 100 million new member a couple months ago. We said to you last year that we had 11 million + new members in 2024. I do expect that. I guess we are going to do even better in 2025 in terms of new member. It is very attractive and solid with a greater number as a partnership and you have seen that into the STO number in terms of contribution to profit. Finally, it is our campus or our North Star.
We are never going to let go from our commitment on achieving the CMD target as promised to ourselves and promised to many of you. When it comes to H2, we clearly are looking at the impact of currency. I know we have talked quite a bit about it and we just cannot do anything about it. We are re-entering a very stringent operational and financial discipline, trying to mitigate whatever we can from the foreign exchange into contribution to profit. We are going to be accelerating the opening and the development. Martine talked to you about the 10.7% growth in pipeline. That has never been better in terms of signing pace in all different segments and across all geographies and certainly back strong in Europe when it comes to the premium segment.
We are really deep in the process when it comes to Essendi, which is, as you may know, the new name for AccorInvest. The vendor due diligence is almost finished with probably 90% there. You're talking 4,000 documents into the data room and of course we have interested parties looking at all that immense data room vendor due diligence and we expect to be on time when it comes to receiving letters of interest and offers in the second semester of 2025. Finally, let's finish or delete the share buyback program of EUR 240 million for the H2 and probably starting as early as next Monday. That's what it is. Can't wait to go deeper with many of you when it comes to Q & A. Let's do it now.
Thank you. As a reminder, if you would like to ask questions on today's call, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. We'll take our first questions from Jamie Rollo from Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning everyone. Three questions, if I may. First of all, just on the implied second half guidance, RevPAR obviously has slowed down to it looks like 1.5%-3.5%. You flagged the Olympics, but are you factoring in any other slowdown there outside of sporting events? Also the EBITDA guidance? Also quite a sharp slowdown to sort of 5%-7% constant currency. Some of that looks to be RevPAR, some of it looks to be services to owners, where I think you said similar to last year. That implies minimal profit in the second half, if I am right. Talk a bit about that second half slowdown, please. Secondly, on the net unit growth guidance of 3.5% from 1.9% at Q2. How much of that is coming from the portfolio deals and some of the conversion brands ,like you mentioned Treasure Island.
Should we expect a similar fee contribution to the rooms? Contribution on those, please. And then just finally on currency, are we correct to calculate a sort of rule of thumb that 1% on your basket of currencies is around EUR 12 million to EBITDA and with the dollar back up to $1.15, not $1.17. Is the EUR 60 million headwind a bit too big? Thank you.
I like it, Jamie, when you start with three questions and you end up with six. Let me actually turn it to Martine on most of it and then I'll interject on some.
Hi, good morning, Jamie. With respect to RevPAR, you're right, the second half is softer than the first half. Most of that is really the Olympic Games, which impacts France in particular and therefore the third quarter. It's really mostly the Olympics in the third quarter. That's where you'll see the impact of that slower RevPAR for the second half. With respect to EBITDA, you're right, the second half will be softer than the first half. Is this really related to the STO line? We actually expect the performance in M&F at constant currency to be improved, particularly in lux and lifestyle. Right. It's really the services to owners that will drive that slower growth in EBITDA in the second half. As I shared with you, on a full year basis we do expect STO to be in line if not slightly above last year.
It's really driven by the phasing of our marketing spend. Last year we had a phasing of the spend that was ahead of the Olympics. This year we've actually concentrated our spend more in the second half also to support demand on net unit growth. Actually, all of the contracts that we have in the pipeline and that will open in the second half are of a similar level of fee contribution. We don't have portfolio deals per se with lower M&F fee per room. You should not expect dilution from that. We're very focused on maintaining if not increasing fee per room. On currency, we have provided on slide 17 a currency sensitivity as well as the expected currency impact. You're absolutely right, your rule of thumb is very, very spot on.
We had EUR 11 million, not EUR 12 million.
No, it is EUR 11 million. So you're very close, Jamie. And if the dollar storage.
No, sorry, you were about to answer the second part of the question on marking to market currency.
Yes. Look, if the dollar, again the EUR 60 million impact that we've given is based on the dollar at $1.17 for the second half, if the dollar improves from that level, then we should have—you should have a lower FX impact than the EUR 60 million we called out.
Great, thank you very much and apologies for missing the slide.
No worries.
Thank you. We will take our next questions from Muneeba Kayani from Bank of America. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Can you talk a little bit around incentive fees and how you're thinking about that for your guidance for this year? Then secondly, just on this new Treasure Island in Vegas, can you touch about how you're thinking about the U.S. at this point and kind of your strategy there? Would you be looking at more of these and what was it about this specific transaction that was attractive for you? Thirdly, to your point around loyalty, hearing a lot more in your comments today on that. You know it's clearly reflecting the launch of that program. What do you have ahead? How should we be thinking about it in terms of EBITDA contribution in the next two years? Thank you.
I'll take the. Good morning. I'll take the first question then turn over to Sébastien. On incentive fees, it's actually quite stable as a percent of overall M&F fees, as is the margin in hotels.
When it comes to Treasure Island and U.S., the deal actually happened quite fast in between the owner of that property and ourselves. It was actually meant, it was built upon one thing which is validated and very interesting. Las Vegas, as you know, is very much U.S. centric in terms of demand and it's a very large property. That ownership wanted to diversify from the domestic U.S. gamblers and visitors and wanted to attract a greater European, Asian population or Middle Eastern for that matter. They actually turned to Accor by saying, you guys have the best distribution, the best network and the best presence away from America. Can you bring me that additional customers that I do not enjoy today at all? It is a diversification of demand for himself.
Two, basically getting associated with Accor Live Limitless, the ALL program, where he wanted to get the partnership and the benefit from all of his customers to enjoy the double points being earned on the ALL program because some of his U.S. domestic demand is actually also traveling abroad and he wanted to get another benefit for them. Three, trying to get better direct distribution and moving away from the OTAs, which he was a little bit too dependent on. It is both loyalty, distribution and geography of demand. It is interesting because that kind of demand did not exist a couple years ago, three years ago, Handwritten was actually not even created a couple years ago. That soft brand permits to basically be attached and connected to many properties, many large properties in the U.S. and outside of the U.S.
and people are looking today even more so deeply on the benefit of ALL, which is actually in many ways very similar to Bonvoy outside of America. We are going to continue going to go deeper in U.S., we are going to be extremely disciplined because we do not have the market share that our competitors have in the U.S., but you are going to see more of those transactions likely in some targeted cities where we can contribute European demand. Two, you are going to see, of course, an acceleration of any small expansion through its 18 portfolio brand. We have talked to you about Delano reopening in Miami, we have talked about Faena opening in New York, and there is some which I cannot talk to you about now, but likely to be confirmed and signed in the next few weeks, many of them being in America.
America is clearly priority for us, America at large, because that includes Mexico, in which also we are enlarging our footprint. This is what it is.
Just on loyalty and how do we think about it and even contributions?
Loyalty, you know, we, I'm old being in this business now and certainly at Accor, we in January, February 2020 was actually in Berlin, we've launched the new program which we called ALL – Accor Live Limitless, formerly was called Accor Le Club Hotel. That program, Accor Le Club Hotel, was launched in 2005, which is exactly 20 years after the launch of similar loyalty programs done by Marriott, Hilton in 1985. So we've been late 20 years. It's about catching up on time. And we're doing and at that time it was a EUR 50 million program. Now it's already EUR 100 million in a matter of five years. We said at the time we should be going from EUR 6 million revenues from partnership attached to the loyalty program in 2020 and targeting for EUR 100 million in partnership revenues and then you transform 30%-40% of that in EBITDA.
I won't be more precise yet on the numbers, but I can confirm to you that I guess we're going to be reaching that over EUR 100 million revenues in the next 18 months. It is really a matter of getting those revenues. Those are 75 different partnerships and we're probably going to be crossing over 100 different partnerships in the world and each of them have an EBITDA contribution to the extent of 25%-40% margin. It depends on geography. We're still far from a billion dollar revenues from Bonvoy or Hilton rewards that they have in the U.S., but at least we are doing so much better than the minuscule EUR 6 million in 2020.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thank you. We will move to our next questions from Jarrod Castle from UBS. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good morning everyone. Three from me as well. You obviously announced the second tranche of your buyback, the EUR 240 million, which I mean you had given us some good guidance in February. Did it cross your mind maybe to do a bit more than that? Just kind of how you're thinking as we move on. Obviously your net debt's a little bit higher as well. In the past you've also spoken about unlocking value, you know, for lifestyle and luxury. Any thoughts there at the moment? Lastly, you know, I think you sold one of your nightclubs. Is there anything more to sell when we look into the second half of the year? Thanks.
The second tranche on the EUR 240 million, and you're absolutely correct, is exactly what we have been announcing four months ago by doing EUR 440 million, which we've done the first couple hundred and we're just finishing the job. Give us a benefit of another quarter and actually a better understanding of where we stand in some of the activities. We don't plan at this stage to enhance the EUR 440 million share buyback, but it is a constant discussion being held at the board level in terms of actually capital allocation. It's not a no, but it's not planned as of this minute.
The unlocking lifestyle luxury, only confirming what I've said to you in the first quarter, that we are spending a very large amount of time on how to accelerate further Ennismore in the U.S. and in many different growth geographies because we believe we are probably a couple years ahead of any of our competitors when it comes to the depth and the growth and EBITDA of Ennismore as an entity. It needs to shine better, it needs to grow faster, it needs probably to have a different currency in order to attract a higher level of partnership. We haven't lost anything as of yet, but we do spend a fair amount of time with the Ennismore shareholders and management team on how to really respond to what we want to do when it comes to an accelerated expansion in many geographies and mostly in the U.S. for that matter.
Too soon to disclose anything, but a continuation of reflections and development process. When it comes to nightclubs, yeah, we sold—that was part of Ennismore actually that was sold, and it was sold only because it was not EBITDA contributing. It required a lot of different personnel and it was better to be put under entrepreneur ownership, and it was enhancing the margins of Paris Society, which owns the nightclub at the time. By actually eliminating 120 + employees who were actually involved in nightclubs, it is a further boost and a margin expansion without any EBITDA disruptions. There is nothing of notice that I could disclose to you at this minute. Anything of that sort which is limited EBITDA contribution where we do not need to remain as the shareholders, yes, we are diving into any rocks that we can actually turn.
Thanks very much.
You're welcome.
Thank you. We will move to our next questions from Leo Carrington from Citi. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you very much. If I could also ask three questions. First, as a follow-up on the points you've been making around the U.S.A., has anything changed about the appeal of this market? Is it that Accor's brands and loyalty program is simply stronger, hence Treasure Island? Or is there something about owners in the U.S. looking at lifestyle in particular, let's say, and your brands that I suppose are new to the market? Just more about what's changed throughout that market for you would be really interesting. Secondly, I mean, you've mentioned the RevPAR outlook. Can you just, away from the Olympic comps, give us some more color in terms of what's happening across the key categories of corporates, leisure travelers? And then lastly, it's just a quick modeling question on the H2 Essendi contribution. Should we be expecting an H2 profit? Thank you.
Sure. When it comes to, I'll leave Martine on the U.S. RevPAR outlook and I'll go back on Essendi. Leo, what has been trending in U.S., it's one significant element. You know, we've been going to NYU Large Hotel conference every year. We of course attend ALIS in Los Angeles for the last couple years. Probably because of the size of the portfolio today of Accor, which is 48 brands, we've never seen so many entry calls from owners in America, including sovereign firm in, asking whether they can get a pitch from any small, from Sofitel, from Fairmont. Handwritten was not expected and that was a phone call we received. There is an enormous envy from hotel ownership in U.S. to probably diversify away from what is today 85% U.S.-centric brands organization.
They are looking for something which is different, maybe in some ways more unique, maybe European flavor, but something different that never existed five or six years ago. That sentiment exists all over the different geographies. The one thing we have to be very careful when we receive those phone calls, and of course we also pitch and we go and try to seduce as many owners as we could, is not to overpromise because of the lack of scale in America. There are things we simply cannot promise in terms of domestic distribution capacity. It is really a response to a very new environment and the seduction of Accor brands, which probably did not exist before. Or actually maybe we do a better job in reaching out.
Certainly, having opened the office in New York on Fifth Avenue was a great marker in terms of ability to finally meet and basically charm ownership as opposed to receive them into a lobby of a Novotel on Times Square or Sofitel lobby on 43rd Street. It is a major move in terms of the way we present ourselves and it is probably a focus for us on trying to get the best margin where it is, which happens to be in America in terms of fee contribution. It is probably a combination of both. On Essendi, I'll give it to Martine.
Hi Leo, on the Essendi, we do expect to have a positive contribution from Essendi from gains on sales. That share of net profit, loss of equity investments, will turn positive on a full year basis, but it will be a much smaller contribution than it was last year. On your question, on your colors on RevPAR across segments, what we saw in the second quarter is actually quite similar to what we observed in the first quarter, which is business essentially flattish, and the growth is really coming from leisure, which continues to be very solid, and this is true for both individual business traveler as well as group business traveler.
Thank you Martine. Thank you Sébastien.
Thank you. We will take our next questions from Alex Brignall from Rothschild & Co Redburn . Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you very much for taking the question. I'll just ask two, give us some time back. On Essendi, I appreciate what you can say is going to be limited by the process, but you had made comments around the valuation that actually kind of been trending upwards a little bit as we went into the process. Could you give us anything that you can in terms of what people you've been talking about have looked in terms of valuation, does it look broadly in line with what you had signposted before the process started officially? Secondly, you've talked a lot about how net unit growth would trough in Q2 and then start to accelerate as churn falls and then grow again into 2026. Could you talk a little bit about how that NUG number will look? Obviously more important is revenue.
How fee per room progression will look in 2026 based on the pipeline of things that you expect to bring through. Thank you very much.
On the Essendi, way too soon, Alex, nothing has been articulated, nothing could actually be articulated in terms of valuation by any prospect since they just entered the vendor due diligence a couple weeks ago. They have to do their own homework and they have to come up with the risk and opportunities. We'll have certainly a much better insight by the probably, I would say, October, November of this year, but they need a solid 90 days to do the homework before we can actually stipulate anything. On the NUG, I'll give it to you, Martine.
Yes, so you're right. Absolutely Alex. On the NUG the trough is in the second quarter and we do expect an acceleration in the second half. I'm not going to comment on what we see in 2026. As you know, our CMD guidance is in between 3 and 5. We do expect our net unit growth to increase over time. In terms of the fee per room, we do expect that fee per room. We're very disciplined on that fee per room, and therefore in the signings that we do, we expect the M&F fee per room to slightly improve over time.
You have to remember that whilst what we sign is of a higher value in terms of fee per room and what we churn is actually of a lower value in fee per room, given the size of the network, it takes a while before it actually shows up in the revenue line, but stable at a minimum.
The true confirmation, which is well noted, exactly what Martine said, which is clearly imposed on anyone, the fee per room of all the hotels we sign is greater and better than the existing portfolio in 90%+ of all cases. There are some very small exceptions, but those are meant to be exceptions. All the rest has to be of a greater importance. That is the strategy of ours and the mix helps. By going more premium in premium, by going more lifestyle, by going more in luxury, ultra luxury. Of course, the fee per contribution is two, three, five times bigger in some cases than the current network.
Brilliant.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. We will move to our next questions from Estelle Weingrod from JPMorgan . Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning on RevPAR.
First, is there anything that will make you more or less confident now to achieve these 3%-4% RevPAR growth in H2 and next year? Also another question, you're committing to the.
Low end of that guidance range for.
EBITDA growth this year, which is a year with RevPAR growing nicely. In the coming years, RevPAR growth should normalize. How confident are you to achieve this EBITDA growth in that context? And maybe just the last one on Thailand and Indonesia, there were some mixed trends there. Can you just give us an update on the latest developments? Thank you.
Hi, good morning, Estelle. So, you know, on RevPAR we're very confident with that 3%-4% guidance on a full year basis. It really, you know, the slowdown in the second half is really mostly reflecting the comp base of the Olympics in the third quarter last year. In terms of the EBITDA growth, we're towards the low end of the range on net unit growth and we are kind of towards, let's say, low to mid end of the range in the RevPAR growth.
Therefore, that is why we guide an EBITDA growth at constant currency between 9%-10%. That's in line with the algorithm going forward. As I just indicated earlier, we do expect that net unit growth to accelerate. You're right, RevPAR may normalize maybe towards the lower end of the guidance. Although we do have a very diverse geographic portfolio across segments as well, so our RevPAR should, should stay, you know, should stay healthy. We're very confident in our ability to be within that 9%-12% growth on EBITDA in the years to come. With respect to Thailand and Indonesia, Thailand was really related to a security incident. With respect to Chinese travelers, there were some Chinese travelers that ran into some trouble and that basically, you know, scared the Chinese away in some sense. That's really more, I would say, at a point in time, I think that was.
We do expect Thailand to have a better second half. With respect to Indonesia, it's really the economic situation, the government is being very tough on spending restrictions and basically very government spending and that is impacting our business in Indonesia. Now Southeast Asia overall remains with positive RevPAR growth and we expect that to continue because we have other countries in that region. Those two countries in particular were impacted in the second quarter.
The one thing Estelle, which I just want to add because we do talk about it quite a bit when it comes to one on one meetings with investors and we're likely going to do it in the next four days, is that we just want to stress again and again that we are in the mixture of developing four different softwares that include IDs for revenue management, Adobe, Salesforce for CRM, or Accor for having a PMS on the cloud. All of those systems basically are enhancer when it comes to in a constant RevPAR environment to boost EBITDA contribution because of a greater direct distribution machine, because of a greater resilience and repeat business from the customers. When you have a greater and a better personalized push, a greater pricing dynamics with those software.
Those are being deployed roughly between 40%-60% of the network the last two years. Any year passing is going to be another 25% network expansion in terms of ability to use those AI driven software. That job will be finished probably by the end of 2027. Those particular softwares are clearly one of the KPIs that I guess we thought of at the time of the CMD to get the 9%-12% CMD guidance to the EBITDA, which is. You see some of it in STO, by the way, that you have seen the first semester. I just want to make sure you know about it. Things that I guess may or at Hilton probably have done five or 10 years ago.
Okay, thanks a lot.
Thank you. We're now taking our next questions from Jaafar Mestari from BNP Paribas exchange. Please go ahead, sir.
Hi, good morning.
I have three.
That's okay. The first one is just on the minutia of RevPAR. Some of the disruptions you mentioned all sounds like they occurred in June, like the pilgrimage or that Thailand point. Of course France was very strong in June. Just wondering if there's a monthly sequence of RevPAR during Q2 we should be aware of. Related to that, you know, how's July to date trending and how are the books looking please for the summer at this stage? Then just third question, services to owners probably not a very fitting name given how it's evolving. Everything you say suggests that in the H1 profits there is some clean profit growth. There's profit pools that are being rolled out in loyalty etc. that we shouldn't just look at and exclude or adjust for.
I'm struggling to reconcile that with the guidance for the full year where you basically said to slightly up so effectively it just sounds like a lot of phasing, a lot of marketing, a lot of the normal system fund stuff rather than loyalty or paid memberships or all these things are Accor EBITDA. Yes. Just curious whether we should see some clean growth in STO this year.
I like you, I see what Martine was pushing me on the side because I've been exactly having the same work over the last three or four days. I think we need to change that STO appellation. It's a mix of so many things. We need to basically clarify for the market what is really system fund related in which you have a zero sum gain in terms of reinvesting whatever you collect on sales and marketing, but you have also part of STO things on which you are meant to not only do profit but increase profit. Those are distribution, those are loyalties, those are partnership. We shouldn't be defensive, we should be happy and we should show the growth. Give us a benefit of another two to three weeks. I guess I'm so happy you said that.
Hi Jaafar. I'll take the minutia of RevPAR in terms of the—so you're right. Within the second quarter, June is clearly, you know, a low point for the, you know, for the reasons you mentioned. Certainly the Middle East, Africa region, you know, in terms of what we see it and as you know we don't have a ton of visibility into the bookings. What we see—and I'm going to put ENA aside because, na, the comps are so challenging to read in some sense. What we see is with respect to July, we see trends that are similar to June, really. What we see is we see actually, again, outside of France because of the Olympics, we see a pickup. We see a pickup as we go towards August.
I guess the bottom line is July will be soft and August is expected to be better in the third quarter. I don't have a view into September. Just to go back on services to owner, we do expect—and we'll think of a name that better captures the dynamics and really profitability of that group of activities—we do expect services to owner profitability, so EBITDA, to grow over time. Maybe call it cautiousness for this year where, again, we're guiding to in line to slightly up versus prior, and it's really giving us flexibility on the marketing for the second half.
Thank you.
Thank you. We're now taking our next questions from Sabrina Blanc from Bernstein. Please go ahead.
Yes, good morning everybody. I have three questions from my part. The first one is regarding what you have mentioned in terms of conversion. Can you come back on the impact on the second quarter and what could be expected on a full year basis, and if you intend to continue on this way, and that will be the opportunity to speak potentially about the churn that you had scheduled. The second key question is regarding the incentive fees. We'd like to understand which part of your hotels under management are currently paying incentive fees. Is there any big differences between areas? The last question is regarding Paris Society, the development. We understand that you have opened new areas, but how do you see this growth engine and how do you see potentially a franchise business model in the Paris Society?
Good morning, Sabrina. On the conversion, and I'm assuming you're talking about the conversion rate in opening, as I mentioned in the call, it's 56% in the first half, which is quite, I think last year we were at 55%. I think on a full year basis, we're a bit higher in the first quarter. It tends to move around a couple of points. Basically, the mid-50% is kind of where we expect that to be. In terms of the incentive fees, again, it's pretty, it's broadly stable. I would say that the only region where incentive fees as a percent of M&F revenue is lower is ENA because ENA has a much higher franchise mix than the other regions. I will.
Say on Paris Society, its development in France is fairly slow because I think we monopolize quite the large destinations, but we are going very fast in different other markets. We just signed Gigi in Bodrum, which is a resort in Turkey. We signed in Istanbul, another Gigi Mondaine, and we signed pop-up two restaurants in Mykonos for the summer. So it is the expansion of Paris Society, of brand awareness. Plus you add this to Rikas, which is another set of brands called Mimi Kakushi and others, with Santa Cruz Gigi as you have seen in Rome, on Orient Express in La Minerva. It is not only the beginning, but it is a very fast expansion. Outside of France, we are actually re-entering London, so it is under different tutorships.
The Paris Society front is actually managing all the French operations, and then out of Dubai and London and others, we are managing the expansion of all our restaurant brands. I think we have 27 IP of brand concepts when you add up Paris Society and Rikas. It is a very natural expansion we have been designing for the last couple of years and executing now.
Thank you very much. Okay, and just a small question you have not answered regarding the churn.
I'm sorry, can you remind me of the question, Sabrina.
Yeah. Regarding when you are speaking about net unit growth you haven't mentioned the churn that you had in Q2 this year and what you are expecting on a full year basis.
We expect the churn. We actually expect the churn in number of rooms to be flat versus prior year. We expect that this churn is going to be more front loaded this year and really because of what happened in the first quarter in the lifestyle property mainly but flat to prior on a full year basis.
Thanks.
Thank you. We are now taking our next questions from André Juillard from Deutsche Bank. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Just follow-up question, first one about the PM&E RevPAR trend in H1 in ENA region, which is surprisingly low. Do you expect any improvement on that side? Second question about Essendi calendar. You are mentioning that you are expecting some letter of interest in H2. Do you still confirm the timing of beginning of 2026 for the closing of a potential deal? Third question about parameter.
Do you.
Have any news flow about Hotel F1 or nothing to mention at this stage? Thank you.
Good morning.
I'll take the first question then I'll turn it over to the essence on RevPAR trends. So ENA actually had a better RevPAR growth in the second quarter. It accelerated in the first quarter. ENA was up, RevPAR was up 0.6% in the second quarter, RevPAR was up 3.3% and so it's an acceleration of basically 2.7 percentage points. And this is really driven by France. You know France was up in the mid single digit in the second quarter and it's really driven by Paris which was again up in the low double digit. Lots of inflow from tourists and then we had the bourgeois course which we didn't have in June of 2024. You know Germany was, you know, kind of actually worse than the first quarter because you know you have a comp base in, you know, in June.
So this really, really to June in the UEFA Championship which took place in Germany. U.K. not much change from, you know, from the first, from the first quarter. It's really. The sequential improvement is driven by France and Paris.
André on Essendi we confirmed the timing we actually gave to each of you in March, which is a 12-18 months process. It is going exactly as planned in terms of prospect, in terms of vendor due diligence. We believe we are going to be receiving those indications of interest, as I told you, probably by November, and we are going to have to select the likely two finalists probably by Christmas or January. As I said, it is probably either an early summer or late summer 2026 closing. Nothing has changed since what we said in March on hotel. It is a long process, it is not an easy process, and something which is added, which is super sad, is that our partner at Conceal died last Friday, unexpectedly, and he was really our main person that I guess we have been exchanging on Hotel F1.
The company, of course, remains. He has partners in his company. I just want to make sure, I guess, we first respect what happened 10 days ago before we reenter in some discussions.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. It appears there are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back to Mr. Sébastien Bazin for any additional or closing remarks. Please go ahead sir.
Thank you so much for attending, all of you. Thank you for the many questions, which actually get us even more prepared for the roadshow in Paris, London, New York, Boston, over the next four days. We will be with each of you more. Again, do not lose sight of we know exactly what we need to do to deliver on the capital market day. We control all the things we can control, but there is some element that I guess we do not control. One of them is foreign exchange. Let us accept it and let's fight on all the other items in which we probably should. Every trimester, get better. That is what it is. Merci beaucoup Arma . Thanks a lot for connecting.
Thank you, everyone.
Have a good weekend, many of you.
This concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.