Hyatt Hotels Beat 2Q Earnings Expectations

(Reuters) - Hyatt Hotels Corp (H.N) posted second-quarter earnings that sailed past market expectations, helped by strong performance at its mid-market hotels in North America.

For the April-June period, the hotel owner and operator reported net income attributable to Hyatt of $37 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $25 million, or 14 cents a share, last year.

Stripping out special items, the company earned 27 cents a share beating expectations for earnings of 15 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Comparable North American revenue per available room (revPAR) -- a gauge of hotel performance which multiples occupancy by room rate -- at its select-service hotels rose 9.6 percent.

Comparable revPAR at Hyatt's international hotels rose 9.9 percent helped by a foreign exchange boost.

Shares of the company were up 9 cents at $38.85 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. They rose as much as 8 percent earlier in the session. (Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)