Accor hotels accelerates plans to shift to franchise model

An upscale Pullman hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, run by Accor, is pictured at night. Accor plans to accelerate plans to cut the number of rooms it owns directly after posting a net loss of 532 million euros ($667 million) in the first half of 2012. PHOTO FROM PULLMANBANGKOKKINGPOWER.COM

PARIS—French hotel giant Accor said Wednesday it plans to accelerate plans to cut the number of rooms it owns directly after posting a net loss of 532 million euros ($667 million) in the first half of the year.

Accor, which runs a series of hotel chains from the budget F1 to upscale Pullman, said that by the end of 2016 it aimed to have 80 percent of rooms in franchises or under management contracts, up from 56 percent currently.

The company has been reducing its real estate assets, which tie up capital, even as it rapidly expands the number of rooms it offers.

It added a record 20,700 new rooms in 141 hotels in the first half of the year.

The company said the first-half loss was due to the planned repurchase of a number of hotels currently being leased, before their subsequent sale.

Excluding such operations, the company said it would have posted a 29 percent increase in net profit 80 million euros.

Accor said its operating profit rose by 4.1 percent to 212 million euros.