Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

And welcome to the Hilton fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 earnings conference call.. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jill Slattery, vice president, investor relations.. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that our discussions this morning will include forward-looking statements.. This morning, Chris Nassetta, our president and chief executive officer, will provide an overview of the current operating environment and the company's outlook; Kevin Jacobs, our executive vice president and chief financial officer, will then review our fourth-quarter and full-year results and provide an update on our expectations for the year ahead.. Systemwide RevPAR growth grew nearly 1% for the year, largely consistent with our recent guidance.. RevPAR declined 1% in the quarter as weaker-than-expected business transient performance offset leisure gains.. Softer business investment trends pressured results in the U.S., and slowing economic growth in China, trade tensions and ongoing protests in Hong Kong weighed on performance across Asia Pacific.. As we look to the year ahead, excluding the potential impact of the coronavirus, which I will discuss in a minute, we expect 2020 top-line growth to be similar to modestly softer than 2019.. Given the macro trends before the impact of the coronavirus,