Marriott (NASDAQ: MAR) reported Q4 EPS of $0.12, $0.01 better than the analyst estimate of $0.11. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.17 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.4 billion.

Leeny Oberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said, "We are all deeply saddened by Arne Sorenson's unexpected passing. We are grateful to have been able to work with such an inspiring and talented leader and will always treasure our memories of working with him. Our leadership team is committed to honoring him by building on his incredible legacy as we move the company forward."

Stephanie Linnartz, Group President, Consumer Operations, Technology and Emerging Businesses, and Tony Capuano, Group President, Global Development, Design and Operations Services, who together are sharing responsibility for overseeing the company's day-to-day operations until Marriott's Board of Directors appoints a new President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the company's quarterly results.

Ms. Linnartz said, "With the global pandemic, 2020 was the most challenging year in our 93-year history. In April, we experienced the sharpest worldwide RevPAR1 decline on record, down 90 percent year over year with just 12 percent occupancy. Demand around the world improved from this trough at varying rates, with China leading the way. RevPAR in mainland China saw a meaningful rebound through the year and was down less than 10 percent year over year in December.

"While China has shown that demand can be quite resilient when the virus is perceived to be contained, we have also seen that progress can be slowed by significant spikes in virus cases, such as we saw in the U.S and Europe towards the end of 2020. Global occupancy remained at 35 percent in the fourth quarter, in line with the third quarter, and still substantially above the trough in April. While no one can know how long this pandemic will last, we are seeing some small, early signs that the acceleration of vaccine rollouts around the world will help drive a significant rebound in travel and lodging demand."

Mr. Capuano said, "We are gratified that we continue to see strong demand for our industry leading brands from owners and franchisees despite the unprecedented challenges resulting from the pandemic. Our pipeline grew during the quarter to more than 498,000 rooms as of the end of 2020, with 46 percent of those rooms under construction. We are seeing strong interest in conversions, as demonstrated by our recent announcement of the planned conversion of 19 all-inclusive hotels with nearly 7,000 rooms to our system in the Caribbean and Latin America region during 2021. Looking ahead, we expect gross rooms growth could accelerate to approximately 6 percent in 2021.

"In the face of the unprecedented environment resulting from the pandemic, our associates and leadership team rose to the challenge. We worked closely with our owners and franchisees to help them weather the crisis by implementing cost savings, both temporary and permanent. And operationally we implemented heightened cleanliness standards across our portfolio to enhance the safety and wellbeing of our associates and guests, while also introducing additional protocols to help enable meeting and group business to safely take place."

Ms. Oberg added, "In 2020, we moved swiftly to right-size our business in response to the precipitous decline in revenue by reducing costs, strengthening our balance sheet, and lowering capital spending. While the current environment remains challenging, we believe our financial condition is strong and we look ahead to the rest of 2021 with optimism."

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