* Q1 adj loss $0.36 vs estimates of -$0.40
* Q1 rev down 33 percent $54.3 mln
* Shares up 13 pct
May 04 (Reuters) - Boutique-hotel operator Morgans Hotel Group Co posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly on tighter cost control, which off-set the decline in revenue from its comparable hotels, sending its shares up as much as 13 percent.
For the first quarter ended March 31, the New York-based company posted net loss of $54.3 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with a loss of $6.4 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) for system-wide comparable hotels fell 36 percent in constant dollars, but the company said it achieved a 21 percent reduction in operating expenses at its comparable hotels and a 16 percent cut in corporate expenses from the year-ago quarter.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a loss of 40 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $61.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
The company also backed its 2009 adjusted EBITDA forecast of $45 million to $60 million.
The company said it expects to open its Boston Ames and Mondrian SoHo units in the fourth-quarter of 2009 or early 2010.
Shares of the company, which operates more than 12 luxury hotels in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and other gateway cities, were trading up 52 cents at $4.63 Friday on Nasdaq in trading after the bell.
(Reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva) Keywords: MORGANSHOTELGROUP/ (sumedha.mukherjee@reuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800 +1 646 897 1898; Reuters Messaging: sumedha.mukherjee.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
* Q1 rev down 33 percent $54.3 mln
* Shares up 13 pct
May 04 (Reuters) - Boutique-hotel operator Morgans Hotel Group Co posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly on tighter cost control, which off-set the decline in revenue from its comparable hotels, sending its shares up as much as 13 percent.
For the first quarter ended March 31, the New York-based company posted net loss of $54.3 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with a loss of $6.4 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) for system-wide comparable hotels fell 36 percent in constant dollars, but the company said it achieved a 21 percent reduction in operating expenses at its comparable hotels and a 16 percent cut in corporate expenses from the year-ago quarter.
Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a loss of 40 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $61.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
The company also backed its 2009 adjusted EBITDA forecast of $45 million to $60 million.
The company said it expects to open its Boston Ames and Mondrian SoHo units in the fourth-quarter of 2009 or early 2010.
Shares of the company, which operates more than 12 luxury hotels in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and other gateway cities, were trading up 52 cents at $4.63 Friday on Nasdaq in trading after the bell.
(Reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva) Keywords: MORGANSHOTELGROUP/ (sumedha.mukherjee@reuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800 +1 646 897 1898; Reuters Messaging: sumedha.mukherjee.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.