An increase in business travel boosted quarterly profit at Hyatt Hotels Corp , but the company said potentially troubling economic factors made forecasting difficult.

"There are still potential headwinds in the short-term from both Europe and a challenging financing services sector," Chief Executive Mark Hoplamazian said during a conference call on Thursday.

Travel by the financial services industry, which has been cutting jobs, accounts for more than 10 percent of Hyatt's revenue.

The company, which is making significant renovations at several key hotels, said group demand from companies strengthened in the fourth quarter but caution persisted as per a Reuters report.

A business-led recovery has helped lift occupancy rates and given the hotel industry pricing power. Still, weakness in Europe has weighed on international results.

Hyatt saw fourth-quarter average daily rates climb from a year earlier and said revenue per available room, or revPAR, was up 6 percent at owned and leased hotels open at least a year. RevPAR is a key measure of health in the hotel industry.

Morningstar analyst Chad Mollman said his firm expects revPAR growth to come under pressure because of the challenges in Europe as well as rising gasoline prices that can take a toll on travel by car in the United States.

He said growth in revPAR slowed in the fourth quarter from the third quarter for both Hyatt and rival Marriott International, which posted quarterly results late Wednesday.

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