New Starhotels President
Elisabetta Fabri comments on the results for the year ending 31
December 2011.
"Despite the recent financial turbulence, a strong history built
on 30 years of passion, intuition and courage has seen Starhotels
bear fruit in Italy and internationally too.
Starhotels Group, which includes Starhotels S.p.A. and
Castille S.a.s., posted record sales in 2011, reaching €142.5
million - the best result in its history".
These were the words of Elisabetta Fabri, who in January 2012 was
appointed President of the Starhotels Group, founded and led by her
father Ferruccio Fabri, now honorary president.
"Succeeding my father as president of the company is a strong
signal of our desire to maintain the family's central role in our
top management."
Elisabetta Fabri is also CEO of the company, which has a portfolio
comprising 22 hotels (20 four star hotels in Italy, one deluxe
hotel in New York and one boutique
hotel in Paris). The hotels comprise 24 restaurants, 3,716 rooms
and 142 meeting rooms seating nearly 10,000 delegates (equating to
1,300,000 visitors a year).

Despite the challenging economic climate of 2011, it proved to be
a very positive year for the Starhotels Group and its 1,000
employees.
Starhotels S.p.A. and Castille S.a.s.
results
"We are satisfied with our capacity to react to a series of
unfavourable circumstances. Starhotels Group,
which includes Starhotels S.p.A. and Castille S.a.s., posted record
sales in 2011, reaching €142.5 million, the best result in its
history" commented Elisabetta Fabri.
The figure was up 9.1% on the previous year,
while EBITDAR moved up from 26.8% in 2010 to
28.2% in 2011, an increase of 15%
in absolute terms. Occupancy also rose, by 4.2%,
to reach 70.1%. RevPar (revenue per available
room) rose 14.7%.
The American associate
The American associate that owns The Michelangelo in New
York, part of the Starhotels Collezione, closed 2011 with sales of
$23.9 million, equating to a 17.7% increase on 2010 sales and up
17.7% on the previous year.
"Even taking our investments into account, our net debt /
EBITDAR gearing improved, moving from 6.1 in 2010 to 4.8 in 2011.
We can therefore look to the future with justified
optimism and confirm our intention to grow within the
framework of our expansion plans for Italy and also abroad".
(Elisabetta Fabri)
The Group
Over 32 years, Starhotels Group has seen strong levels of growth
through a number of property acquisitions, and has subsequently
become one of the most successful businesses within the Italian
hospitality industry.

Out of its total 22 hotels, Starhotels Group has five of
particular distinction. These
are all members of Preferred Hotels & Resorts and form the
"Starhotels Collezione".
To exemplify the company's commitment to the highest standards of
service and
hospitality, the Collezione hotels stand out thanks to their
extraordinary architecture, fine details, inimitable Italian style
and central locations within some of the world's most beautiful
cities.
The Collezione includes the Castille Paris, The Michelangelo in
New York, the Rosa
Grand in Milan, the Savoia Excelsior Palace in Trieste, and the
Splendid Venice in
Venice.
Markets
Italy continues to be the Group's main market but the number of
clients and financial input from non-European countries is
increasing. Whilst visitors from Europe fell, there was a
significant 53.5% increase in clients from South
East Asia since 2010.
Visitors from China increased by 69.9% on 2010 and the US market
also showed a
considerable increase of 12.1%.
The internet has proved a significant point of sale for the group. Over 32% of revenues were generated via online sources including the Starhotels website as well as third party sites. The Meetings & Conventions segment has continued to represent a significant strength for the company.
Investments
Starhotels made investments worth approximately €16
million in 2011. Of this figure, around €13
million was invested into the total renovation of the
Starhotels Splendido in Milan. This hotel re-opened with a new look
and new name, Starhotels E.c.ho (Ecological Contemporary Hotel).
2011 also saw the completion of
renovation work in the communal areas of the Castille Paris and
the Starhotels Michelangelo in Florence.
Innovation
The full renovation of the E.c.ho. Hotel was triggered by
Starhotels' motivation to put eco-sustainability at the fore.
Subsequently, the company went to great lengths to ensure all the
right choices were made with regards to materials, systems and
equipment within the building.
"At a time when environmental issues and the effects of
climate change have become a priority for all of us, Starhotels
believe that the hospitality industry too must apply technologies
that contain or reduce atmospheric pollution and respect the
environment in general." (Elisabetta Fabri)
With the E.c.ho, Starhotels has created an eco-sustainable hotel
by applying innovative technical solutions, such as insulation
systems, energy consumption and CO2 emissions control systems, and
by using eco-certified materials and products in the furnishings
and décor. Similar innovative applications will also be used in
renovating the Michelangelo in Rome, which started in December 2011
and will entail overall investments of €10 million.
Conclusions
"We are moving forward with our plans to consolidate the four
macro-objectives that we achieved in 2011: reduction of debt,
growth in sales, maintenance of investments in renovation and
improvement of profit margins. With this balanced approach, we will
continue to expand, through acquisitions of property in major
capitals within Europe and the USA, but also by other means, such
as management contracts". (Elisabetta Fabri)
Ufficio Stampa e Relazioni
Esterne:
Luisa Nocentini
T: 055 3692284
E-mail: l.nocentini@starhotels.it