Hyatt (H, Financial) (29%, 1.76%; 24%, 1.21%), the global hotel franchisor and owner, was the top contributor in the fourth quarter and among the largest contributors for the year. The company is once again cash profitable, even though its Group/Business bookings are less than half of 2019 levels. Revenues from leisure travelers, however, are up more than 20%, with pricing as high as 40% year-over-year for Hyatt’s most popular destination resorts. CEO Mark Hoplamazian made two great sales above our appraisal values this year, helping to grow our appraisal of the consolidated company value by 27%. We expect more proceeds to come in next year and earnings growth to accelerate back towards normalized levels with COVID reopening.
From Mason Hawkins (Trades, Portfolio)' Longleaf Partners Fund fourth-quarter 2021 commentary.
