Accor posts net profit rise for 2011

French hotel giant Accor posted a net profit of 27 million euros for 2011 on Wednesday with operating profits, a key measure for the company, up by 18.8 percent from a year ago to 530 million euros ($701 million). Accor, which runs a series of hotel chains, announced last month improved sales of 6.1 billion euros in 2011, up 2.5 percent from 2010. In 2011, the hotel expanded by a record 39,000 rooms, the company said, mostly under franchise conditions as the company continues to downsize real estate assets. The company said it would maintain a multi-year asset sale programme set to cut 400 hotels with an impact of 2.2 billion euros by 2014.