ROCKVILLE, Md., April 28, 2014 // PRNewswire // -- Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) today reported the following highlights for the first quarter of 2014:
"We are very pleased with the first quarter performance of our franchising business which exceeded our expectations and resulted in a 15 percent increase in franchising EBITDA and an expansion of our franchising margins due to our strong RevPAR growth and disciplined cost management," said Stephen P. Joyce, president and chief executive officer. "We are optimistic that we are well positioned to benefit from strong consumer and developer demand for our brands."
In the first quarter of 2014, the company entered into a plan to sell its three owned hotels operated under the MainStay Suites brand. The company determined that the disposal of these hotels met the definition of a discontinued operation since the operations and cash flows of these components will be eliminated from the on-going operations of the company and the company will not have significant continuing involvement in the operations of the hotels after the disposal transaction.
At March 31, 2014, the company had disposed of two of the three owned hotels and expects the third hotel to be sold during the year ended December 31, 2014. The new owners of the two MainStay Suites hotels have executed new franchise agreements with the company and we expect that following the sale of the third hotel the new owner will also execute a new franchise agreement.
The company's consolidated statement of income for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and the company's consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2014 reflect these three company-owned hotels as discontinued operations. In addition, the company's statement of income for the three months ended March 31, 2013 has been reclassified to account for these operations as discontinued. Summarized financial information related to these discontinued operations is presented in Exhibit 9 of this press release.
The company's consolidated 2014 outlook reflects continued growth of the company's core hotel franchising business, continued investment in and expanded revenue contribution from the SkyTouch division and the sale of the three company-owned Mainstay Suites hotels described below as well as the following assumptions:
The company's second quarter 2014 diluted EPS is expected to be $0.48. The company expects full-year 2014 diluted EPS to range between $1.87 and $1.93. EBITDA for full-year 2014 are expected to range between $207 million and $212 million.
Choice will conduct a conference call on Monday, April 28, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. EDT to discuss the company's first quarter 2014 results. The dial-in number to listen to the call is 1-800-591-6942, and the access code is 70683172. International callers should dial 1-617-614-4909 and enter the access code 70683172. The conference call also will be Webcast simultaneously via the company's Web site, www.choicehotels.com. Interested investors and other parties wishing to access the call via the Webcast should go to the Web site and click on the Investor Info link. The Investor page will feature a conference call microphone icon to access the call.
The call will be recorded and available for replay beginning at 2:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 28, 2014 through Monday, May 5, 2014 by calling 1-888-286-8010 and entering access code 19637446. The international dial-in number for the replay is 1-617-801-6888, access code 1963746. In addition, the call will be archived for approximately one-year and available on www.choicehotels.com via the Investor Info link.
Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises more than 6,300 hotels, representing more than 500,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 35 other countries and territories. As of March 31, 2014, 398 hotels, representing more than 30,000 rooms, were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States. Additionally, 95 hotels, representing approximately 8,900 rooms, were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in more than 15 other countries and territories. The company's Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands, as well as its Ascend Hotel Collection membership program, serve guests worldwide.
SkyTouch Technology is a division of Choice Hotels International, Inc. that develops and markets cloud-based technology products, including inventory management, pricing and connectivity to third party channels, to hoteliers not under franchise agreements with the company.
Additional corporate information can be found on the Choice Hotels International, Inc. web site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com.
Certain matters discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Generally, our use of words such as "expect," "estimate," "believe," "anticipate," "will," "forecast," "plan," "project," "assume" or similar words of futurity identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current beliefs, assumptions and expectations regarding future events, which in turn are based on information currently available to management. Such statements may relate to projections of the company's revenue, earnings and other financial and operational measures, company debt levels, ability to repay outstanding indebtedness, payment of dividends, and future operations, among other matters. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.
Several factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, changes to general, domestic and foreign economic conditions; operating risks common in the lodging and franchising industries; changes to the desirability of our brands as viewed by hotel operators and customers; changes to the terms or termination of our contracts with franchisees; our ability to keep pace with improvements in technology utilized for reservations systems and other operating systems; fluctuations in the supply and demand for hotels rooms; and our ability to manage effectively our indebtedness. These and other risk factors are discussed in detail in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including our annual reports on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
EBITDA, franchising revenues, franchising SG&A, franchising EBITDA and franchising margins are non-GAAP financial measurements. These measures should not be considered as an alternative to any measure of performance or liquidity as promulgated under or authorized by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), such as operating income, total revenues and operating margins. The company's calculation of these measurements may be different from the calculations used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. The company has included an exhibit accompanying this release that reconciles EBITDA, franchising revenues, franchising SG&A and franchising margins to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. We discuss management's reasons for reporting these non-GAAP measures below.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization: EBITDA reflects income from continuing operations excluding the impact of interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, other (gains) and losses and equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates. We consider EBITDA to be an indicator of operating performance because we use it to measure our ability to service debt, fund capital expenditures, and expand our business. We also use EBITDA, as do analysts, lenders, investors and others, to evaluate companies because it excludes certain items that can vary widely across different industries or among companies within the same industry. For example, interest expense can be dependent on a company's capital structure, debt levels and credit ratings. Accordingly, the impact of interest expense on earnings can vary significantly among companies. The tax positions of companies can also vary because of their differing abilities to take advantage of tax benefits and because of the tax policies of the jurisdictions in which they operate. As a result, effective tax rates and provision for income taxes can vary considerably among companies. EBITDA also excludes depreciation and amortization because companies utilize productive assets of different ages and use different methods of both acquiring and depreciating productive assets. These differences can result in considerable variability in the relative costs of productive assets and the depreciation and amortization expense among companies.
Franchising Revenues, Operating Income, EBITDA, SG&A and Margins: The company reports franchising revenues, operating income, EBITDA, SG&A and margins which exclude marketing and reservation revenues and SkyTouch Technology operations. Marketing and reservation activities are excluded since the company is required by its franchise agreements to use the fees collected for marketing and reservation activities; as such, no income or loss to the company is generated. Cumulative marketing and reservation system fees not expended are recorded as a liability in the company's financial statements and are carried over to the next year and expended in accordance with the franchise agreements. Cumulative marketing and reservation expenditures in excess of fees collected for marketing and reservation activities are deferred and recorded as an asset in the company's financial statements and recovered in future periods. SkyTouch Technology is a division of the company that develops and markets cloud-based technology products, including inventory management, pricing and connectivity to third party channels, to hoteliers not under franchise agreements with the company. The operations for SkyTouch Technology are excluded since they do not reflect the company's core franchising business but are an adjacent, complimentary line of business. These non-GAAP measures are a commonly used measure of performance in our industry and facilitate comparisons between the company and its competitors.
Choice Hotels, Choice Hotels International, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection and SkyTouch Technology are proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International.
© 2014 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved.
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SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.
David White
Senior Vice President
Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
(301) 592-5117
Scott Carman
Director
Public Relations
(301) 592-6361
Choice Hotels International is one of the largest and most successful lodging franchisors in the world.