Choice Hotels International Reports A 10 Percent Increase In Fourth Quarter Diluted Earnings Per Share

Special Item

During the year ended December 31, 2016, the company recorded an executive termination benefit charge of approximately $2.2 million. This special item impacted diluted EPS by $0.03 per share for the year ended December 31, 2016. The company uses non-GAAP measures that exclude executive termination benefits because those non-GAAP measures allow for period-over-period comparison of on-going core operations before the impact of these charges. These non-GAAP measures, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP measures in Exhibit 8, include adjusted net income, adjusted diluted EPS, adjusted hotel franchising selling, general and administrative expenses, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted hotel franchising margins.

Use of Cash Flows

Dividends
During the fourth quarter of 2016, the company's board of directors announced a 5 percent increase, effective the first quarter of 2017, of the current quarterly dividend rate per common share to $0.215 per share.  During the year ended December 31, 2016, the company paid cash dividends totaling approximately $46 million.

Share Repurchases
The company repurchased 0.6 million shares of common stock under its share repurchase program during the year ended December 31, 2016, at a total cost of approximately $30 million. During the fourth quarter, the company's board of directors approved increasing the number of shares authorized under its long-standing share repurchase program by 3 million shares. Thus, the company currently has authorization to purchase up to 4.0 million additional shares under this program.

Hotel Development & Financing
Pursuant to its program to encourage acceleration of the growth of our upscale select-service Cambria hotels & suites brand, the company advanced approximately $104 million in support of the brand's development during the year ended December 31, 2016. The company also recycled approximately $28 million of investments in support of Cambria development projects resulting in net advances of $76 million for the current year.  These advances are primarily in the form of joint venture investments, forgivable key money loans, senior and mezzanine lending and site acquisitions.  On December 31, 2016, the company had approximately $204 million reflected in its consolidated balance sheet pursuant to these financial support activities. With respect to lending and joint venture investments, the company generally expects to recycle these loans and investments within a five-year period.

Outlook

The company's consolidated 2017 outlook reflects the following assumptions:

Consolidated Outlook

• Net income for full year 2017 is expected to range between $157 million and $160 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA for full year 2017 is expected to range between $292 million and $297 million.
• The company's first quarter 2017 diluted EPS is expected to be at least $0.49.
• The company expects full year 2017 diluted EPS to range between $2.78 and $2.84.
• The recurring effective tax rate is expected to be approximately 33.5% for the first quarter and full year 2017.
• Diluted EPS estimates are based on the current number of shares outstanding and thus do not factor in any changes that may occur due to new equity grants or any further repurchases of common stock under the company's share repurchase program.
• The EPS and consolidated EBITDA estimates assume that we incur net reductions in EBITDA related to non-hotel franchising activities at the midpoint of the range for these investments.

Hotel Franchising

• Adjusted EBITDA from hotel franchising activities for full year 2017 are expected to range between $297 million and $302 million.
• Net domestic unit growth for 2017 is expected to range between approximately 2% and 3%.
• RevPAR is expected to increase between 3.5% and 4.5% for the first quarter and range between 3.0% and 4.0% for full year 2017.
• The effective royalty rate is expected to increase between 12 and 14 basis points for full year 2017 as compared to full year 2016.

Non-Hotel Franchising Activities

• Net reductions in full year 2017 EBITDA relating to our non-hotel franchising operations, which primarily relate to SkyTouch and vacation rental activities are expected to range between approximately $4 million and $6 million.

Conference Call
Choice will conduct a conference call on Thursday, February 16, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. ET to discuss the company's fourth quarter 2016 and full-year results. The dial-in number to listen to the call domestically is 1-855-638-5678 and the number for international participants is 1-920-663-6286.  The conference call also will be webcast simultaneously via the company's website, www.choicehotels.com.  Interested investors and other parties wishing to access the call via the webcast should go to the website 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 12:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 16, 2017, by calling 1-855-859-2056 (domestic) or 1-404-537-3406 (international) and entering access code 48329007. In addition, the call will be archived and available on choicehotels.com via the Investor Info link.

About Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the world's largest lodging companies. With more than 6,500 hotels franchised in more than 40 countries and territories, Choice Hotels International represents more than 500,000 rooms around the globe.  As of December 31, 2016, 775 hotels were in our development pipeline. Our company's Ascend Hotel Collection®, Cambria® hotels & suites, Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Sleep Inn®, Quality®, Clarion®, MainStay Suites®, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel®, Econo Lodge®, Rodeway Inn®, and Vacation Rentals by Choice Hotels™ brands provide a spectrum of lodging choices to meet guests' needs. With more than 30 million members and counting, our Choice Privileges® rewards program enhances every trip a guest takes, with benefits ranging from instant, every day rewards to exceptional experiences, starting right when they join.  All hotels and vacation rentals are independently owned and operated. Visit us at www.choicehotels.com for more information.

SkyTouch Technology® is a business division of Choice Hotels 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.

Forward-Looking Statements
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," "should,"  "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, repurchases of common stock 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; foreign currency fluctuations; 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 marketing and reservations systems and other operating systems; our ability to grow our franchise system; exposure to risks related to development activities; fluctuations in the supply and demand for hotels rooms; our ability to realize anticipated benefits from acquired businesses; the level of acceptance of alternative growth strategies we may implement; operating risks associated with our international operations; the outcome of litigation; and our ability to manage 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.

Statement Concerning Non-GAAP Financial Measurements Presented in this Press Release
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted diluted EPS, hotel franchising revenues, adjusted hotel franchising SG&A, Adjusted EBITDA from hotel franchising activities and adjusted hotel 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 net 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 items to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. We discuss management's reasons for reporting these non-GAAP measures below.

Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization: Adjusted EBITDA reflects net income excluding the impact of interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, other (gains) and losses, equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates, mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments and executive termination benefits. We consider adjusted 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 adjusted 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. Adjusted 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. Mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments recorded in SG&A are excluded from EBITDA as the company accounts for these investments in accordance with accounting for deferred compensation arrangements when investments are held in a rabbi trust and invested.  Changes in the fair value of the investments are recognized as both compensation expense in SG&A and other gains and losses.  As a result, the changes in the fair value of the investments do not have an impact on the company's net income. These amounts are excluded from EBITDA as they can vary widely across reporting periods based on the performance of the investments and are not an indicator of the operating performance of the company.

Hotel Franchising Revenues, Adjusted Hotel Franchising EBITDA, Adjusted Hotel Franchising SG&A and Margins:  The company reports hotel franchising revenues, adjusted hotel franchising EBITDA, adjusted franchising hotel SG&A and margins which exclude marketing and reservation revenues; the SkyTouch Technology division; recently acquired operations that provide Software as a Service ("SaaS") technology solutions to vacation rental management companies; revenue generated from the ownership of an office building that is leased to a third-party and executive termination benefits.  These non-GAAP measures are a commonly used measure of performance in our industry and facilitate comparisons between the company and its competitors. 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 and our vacation rental technology solutions provider are excluded since they do not reflect the company's core franchising business but are adjacent, complementary lines of business.

© 2017 Choice Hotels International, Inc.  All rights reserved.

Choice Hotels International, Inc.																Exhibit 1
Consolidated Statements of Income
(Unaudited)
		Three Months Ended December 31,								Year Ended December 31,
						Variance								Variance
		2016		2015		$		%		2016		2015		$		%
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
REVENUES:
Royalty fees		$              73,379		$              67,965		$     5,414		8%		$            320,547		$            301,508		$     19,039		6%
Initial franchise and relicensing fees		6,807		6,977		(170)		(2%)		23,953		24,680		(727)		(3%)
Procurement services		7,507		7,404		103		1%		31,226		27,071		4,155		15%
Marketing and reservation system		113,523		122,465		(8,942)		(7%)		525,716		488,763		36,953		8%
Other		6,979		6,140		839		14%		23,199		17,856		5,343		30%
Total revenues		208,195		210,951		(2,756)		(1%)		924,641 Werbung Mehr Nachrichten zur Choice Hotels International Aktie kostenlos abonnieren E-Mail-Adresse Bitte überprüfe deine die E-Mail-Adresse. Benachrichtigungen von ARIVA.DE (Mit der Bestellung akzeptierst du die Datenschutzhinweise) -1 Vielen Dank, dass du dich für unseren Newsletter angemeldet hast. Du erhältst in Kürze eine E-Mail mit einem Aktivierungslink. Hinweis: ARIVA.DE veröffentlicht in dieser Rubrik Analysen, Kolumnen und Nachrichten aus verschiedenen Quellen. Die ARIVA.DE AG ist nicht verantwortlich für Inhalte, die erkennbar von Dritten in den „News“-Bereich dieser Webseite eingestellt worden sind, und macht sich diese nicht zu Eigen. Diese Inhalte sind insbesondere durch eine entsprechende „von“-Kennzeichnung unterhalb der Artikelüberschrift und/oder durch den Link „Um den vollständigen Artikel zu lesen, klicken Sie bitte hier.“ erkennbar; verantwortlich für diese Inhalte ist allein der genannte Dritte. Andere Nutzer interessierten sich auch für folgende News 09:12 - PR Newswire UK Commercial Property REIT Ltd - Final Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2023 02:00 - PR Newswire BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust Plc - Total Voting Rights 02:00 - PR Newswire Pensana Plc - Update on FSDEA US$15 million loan facility Auf zur INVEST am 26.+ 27.04.2024    Foto: Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH - Jetzt kostenloses Ticket sichern! weiterlesen» Anzeige wo-site-teaser-box-16688_site-teaser-box_2024-04-17_09%253A00%253A00_2024-04-22_09%253A00%253A59