News for the Hospitality Executive |
Choice Hotels International Inc. Reports a 6.5% Decline
in Third Qtr Net Income
of $35.9 million Compared with $38.4 million a Year Earlier;
Higher Operating
Costs Wipes Away a 9.2% Increase in Revenues
.
SILVER SPRING, Md., Oct 27, 2008 - Choice Hotels International, Inc., (CHH) today reported the following highlights for third quarter 2008:
Outlook for 2008 The uncertainty around the current economic environment and credit market conditions and their impact on travel patterns and hotel development activities makes it difficult to predict future results, particularly as it relates to underlying assumptions for RevPAR, new hotel franchise and relicensing sales and interest and investment income and expense. The company's fourth quarter 2008 diluted EPS is expected to be $0.40. The company expects full year 2008 adjusted diluted EPS of $1.76. Adjusted EBITDA for full-year 2008 are expected to be approximately $197.5 million. These estimates include the following assumptions:
The company has consistently used its free cash flow (cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) to return value to shareholders, primarily through share repurchases and dividends. The annual dividend rate per common share was increased 9 percent by the Board of Directors in September and is now $0.74. During the nine months ended September 30, 2008, the company paid $31.6 million of cash dividends to shareholders. The company did not repurchase any shares under it share repurchase program during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008. Subsequent to September 30, 2008 and through October 27, 2008, the Company repurchased 0.5 million shares at a total cost of $12.6 million at an average price of $23.06 per share. The company has authorization to purchase up to an additional 2.6 million shares under the share repurchase program. We expect to continue making repurchases in the open market and through privately negotiated transactions, subject to market and other conditions. No minimum number of share repurchases has been fixed. Since Choice announced its stock repurchase program on June 25, 1998, the company has repurchased 39.1 million shares of its common stock for a total cost of $908.5 million through October 27, 2008. Considering the effect of a two-for-one stock split in October 2005, the company has repurchased 72.1 million shares under the share repurchase program at an average price of $12.60 per share. Our Board has authorized us to enter into programs which permit us to
offer financing, investment and guaranty support to qualified franchisees
to incent multi-unit franchise development in top markets. We expect to
opportunistically deploy this capital over the next several years. Our
current expectation is that our annual investment in these programs would
range from $20 to $40 million beginning in 2009 (2008 investment in these
programs is not expected to be significant), depending on market and other
conditions. In addition to these programs, the company expects to continue
to return value to its shareholders through a combination of share repurchases
and dividends, also subject to market and other conditions.
About Choice Hotels
Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels Web site, which may be accessed at http://www.choicehotels.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain matters discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities law. Generally, our use of words such as "expect," "estimate," "believe," "anticipate," "will," "forecast," "plan," project," "assume" or similar words of futurity identify statements that are forward-looking and that we intend to be included within the Safe Harbor protections provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such 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, payment of stock 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 Risk Factors section of the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 29, 2008. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Statement Concerning Non-GAAP Financial Measurements Adjusted diluted EPS, adjusted EBITDA, franchising revenues and adjusted franchising margins are non-GAAP financial measurements. This information should not be considered as an alternative to any measure of performance as promulgated under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP), such as diluted earnings per share, 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 these measures to the comparable GAAP measurement. We discuss management's reasons for reporting these non-GAAP measures below. Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization: EBITDA reflects earnings excluding the impact of interest expense, tax expense, depreciation and amortization. Our management considers EBITDA to be an indicator of operating performance because it can be used to measure our ability to service debt, fund capital expenditures, and expand our business. EBITDA is a commonly used measure of performance in our industry. In addition, it is used by analysts, lenders, investors and others, as well as by us, to facilitate comparisons between the Company and its competitors because it excludes certain items that can vary widely across different industries or among companies within the same industry. Franchising Revenues and Margins: The Company reports franchising revenues and margins which exclude marketing and reservations revenues and hotel operations. Marketing and reservation activities are excluded from revenues and operating margins since the Company is contractually required by its franchise agreements to use these fees collected for marketing and reservation activities. Cumulative reservation and marketing fees not expended are recorded as a payable on the Company's financial statements and are carried over to the next fiscal 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 recorded as a receivable on the Company's financial statements. In addition, the Company has the contractual authority to require that the franchisees in the system at any given point repay the Company for any deficits related to marketing and reservation activities. Hotel operations are excluded since they do not reflect the most accurate measure of the Company's core franchising business. These non-GAAP measures are a commonly used measure of performance in our industry and facilitate comparisons between the Company and its competitors. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Franchising Margins and Adjusted Diluted EPS: The Company's management also uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Franchising Margins and Adjusted Diluted EPS which exclude the impact of the acceleration of the Company's management succession plan in the nine months ended September 30, 2008 and the impact of termination benefits incurred related to the separation of certain executive officers in the nine months ended September 30, 2007. The Company utilizes these non-GAAP measures to enable investors to perform meaningful comparisons of past, present and future operating results and as a means to emphasize the results of on-going operations. Cambria Suites, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Sleep Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, and Rodeway Inn are proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International, Inc. |
Contact:
Choice Hotels International, Inc.
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